IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jeczfn/v107y2012i2p157-181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why is mobile capital taxed?

Author

Listed:
  • Kangoh Lee

Abstract

The government for a jurisdiction has both capital and labor taxes at its disposal. It taxes mobile capital to finance the public good despite the desire to attract capital and despite the tax on immobile labor if capital incomes are distributed more unequally than labor incomes among the residents of the jurisdiction. The result extends to progressive taxes and to pure redistribution. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Kangoh Lee, 2012. "Why is mobile capital taxed?," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 157-181, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:107:y:2012:i:2:p:157-181
    DOI: 10.1007/s00712-011-0257-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00712-011-0257-1
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00712-011-0257-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1994. "Protection for Sale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 833-850, September.
    2. Wilson, John Douglas, 1991. "Tax competition with interregional differences in factor endowments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 423-451, November.
    3. Davies, James B. & Sandstrom, Susanna & Shorrocks, Anthony & Wolff, Edward N., 2006. "The World Distribution of Household Wealth," Conference papers 331490, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Wildasin, David E., 1989. "Interjurisdictional capital mobility: Fiscal externality and a corrective subsidy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 193-212, March.
    5. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    6. Eaton, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S., 1980. "Labor supply, uncertainty, and efficient taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 365-374, December.
    7. Laussel, Didier & Le Breton, Michel, 1998. "Existence of Nash equilibria in fiscal competition models," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 283-296, May.
    8. Bucovetsky, S., 1991. "Asymmetric tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 167-181, September.
    9. Javier Diaz-Gimenez & Vincenzo Quadrini & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 1997. "Dimensions of inequality: facts on the U.S. distributions of earnings, income, and wealth," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 21(Spr), pages 3-21.
    10. Huizinga, Harry & Nielsen, Soren Bo, 1997. "Capital income and profit taxation with foreign ownership of firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 149-165, February.
    11. Borck, Rainald, 2003. "Tax competition and the choice of tax structure in a majority voting model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 173-180, July.
    12. Anke S. Kessler & Christoph Lülfesmann & Gordon M. Myers, 2002. "Redistribution, Fiscal Competition, and the Politics of Economic Integration," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(4), pages 899-923.
    13. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-298, April.
    14. Huber, Bernd, 1999. "Tax competition and tax coordination in an optimum income tax model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 441-458, March.
    15. Huber, Bernd, 1997. "Optimal Capital Income Taxes and Capital Controls in Small Open Economies," Munich Reprints in Economics 19405, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    16. Card, David & Krueger, Alan B, 1992. "Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-40, February.
    17. Bernd Huber, 1997. "Optimal Capital Income Taxes and Capital Controls in Small Open Economies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 4(1), pages 7-24, January.
    18. Fuest, Clemens & Huber, Bernd, 2001. "Labor and capital income taxation, fiscal competition, and the distribution of wealth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 71-91, January.
    19. Kangoh Lee, 2004. "Taxation of Mobile Factors as Insurance under Uncertainty," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(2), pages 253-271, June.
    20. Razin, Assaf & Sadka, Efraim, 1991. "Efficient investment incentives in the presence of capital flight," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 171-181, August.
    21. Loury, Glenn C, 1981. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Distribution of Earnings," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 843-867, June.
    22. Eaton, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S, 1980. "Taxation, Human Capital, and Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 705-715, September.
    23. Michael Braulke & Giacomo Corneo, 2004. "Capital Taxation May Survive in Open Economies," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 5(2), pages 237-244, November.
    24. Wolfram Richter & Kerstin Schneider, 2001. "Taxing Mobile Capital with Labor Market Imperfections," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 8(3), pages 245-262, May.
    25. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 1992. "The Politics of 1992: Fiscal Policy and European Integration," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(4), pages 689-701.
    26. Haufler,Andreas, 2008. "Taxation in a Global Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521047593, September.
    27. Bayindir-Upmann, Thorsten & Ziad, Abderrahmanne, 2005. "Existence of equilibria in a basic tax-competition model," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-22, January.
    28. Burbidge, John & Cuff, Katherine & Leach, John, 2006. "Tax competition with heterogeneous firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 533-549, February.
    29. Bucovetsky, Sam & Wilson, John Douglas, 1991. "Tax competition with two tax instruments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 333-350, November.
    30. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-927, October.
    31. Wilson, John Douglas & Wildasin, David E., 2004. "Capital tax competition: bane or boon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1065-1091, June.
    32. Huber, Bernd, 1999. "Tax competition and tax coordination in an optimum income tax model," Munich Reprints in Economics 19402, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    33. Ogawa, Hikaru & Sato, Yasuhiro & Tamai, Toshiki, 2006. "A note on unemployment and capital tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 350-356, September.
    34. Murnane, Richard J & Willett, John B & Levy, Frank, 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(2), pages 251-266, May.
    35. Xavier Vives, 2001. "Oligopoly Pricing: Old Ideas and New Tools," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026272040x, April.
    36. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2005. "Optimal capital taxation in economies with unionized and competitive labour markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 57(4), pages 717-731, October.
    37. George R. Zodrow & Peter Mieszkowski, 2019. "Pigou, Tiebout, Property Taxation, and the Underprovision of Local Public Goods," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 17, pages 525-542, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    38. Brueckner, Jan K., 2000. "A Tiebout/tax-competition model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 285-306, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Timothy P. Hubbard & Justin Svec, 2015. "A Model of Tradeable Capital Tax Permits," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(6), pages 916-942, December.
    2. Kangoh Lee, 2021. "Labor market frictions, capital, taxes and employment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(6), pages 1329-1359, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gaëtan Nicodème, 2006. "Corporate tax competition and coordination in the European Union: What do we know? Where do we stand?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 250, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    2. Clemens Fuest & Bernd Huber & Jack Mintz, 2003. "Capital Mobility and Tax Competition: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 956, CESifo.
    3. Petchey, Jeffrey D. & Shapiro, Perry, 2009. "Equilibrium in fiscal competition games from the point of view of the dual," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 97-108, January.
    4. Braid, Ralph M., 2013. "State and local tax competition in a spatial model with sales taxes and residential property taxes," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 57-67.
    5. Wilson, John Douglas & Wildasin, David E., 2004. "Capital tax competition: bane or boon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1065-1091, June.
    6. Yu-Bong Lai, 2014. "Asymmetric tax competition in the presence of lobbying," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(1), pages 66-86, February.
    7. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2004. "Die Bedeutung der Körperschaftssteuer: Theoretische Überlegungen, die internationale Entwicklung und die Situation in der Schweiz," Aussenwirtschaft, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economics Research, vol. 59(03), pages 239-272, September.
    8. Günther G. Schulze & Heinrich W. Ursprung, 1999. "Globalisation of the Economy and the Nation State," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 295-352, May.
    9. Zodrow, George R, 2003. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 651-671, November.
    10. Kempf, Hubert & Rota-Graziosi, Grégoire, 2010. "Endogenizing leadership in tax competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 768-776, October.
    11. Sam Bucovetsky & Michael Smart, 2006. "The Efficiency Consequences of Local Revenue Equalization: Tax Competition and Tax Distortions," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 8(1), pages 119-144, January.
    12. Eichner, Thomas, 2014. "Endogenizing leadership and tax competition: Externalities and public good provision," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 18-26.
    13. Tadashi Morita & Yasuhiro Sato & Kazuhiro Yamamoto, 2020. "Demographics and competition for capital in political economy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(4), pages 865-889, August.
    14. Braid, Ralph M., 2005. "Tax competition, tax exporting and higher-government choice of tax instruments for local governments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1789-1821, September.
    15. Yang, Hongyan, 2018. "Income redistribution and public goods provision under tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 94-103.
    16. Thierry Madiès & Sonia Paty & Yvon Rocaboy, 2005. "Externalités fiscales horizontales et verticales. Où en est la théorie du fédéralisme financier ?," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 115(1), pages 17-63.
    17. Wolfgang Eggert & Andreas Haufler, 1998. "When Do Small Countries Win Tax Wars?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 327-361, July.
    18. Andre Fourcans & Thierry Warin, 2010. "Tax competition and information sharing in Europe: a signalling game," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1/2), pages 76-86.
    19. Borck, Rainald & Pfluger, Michael, 2006. "Agglomeration and tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 647-668, April.
    20. Björn Kauder, 2015. "Spatial Administrative Structure And Intrametropolitan Tax Competition," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 626-643, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mobile capital; Capital tax; Labor tax; H71; H72; H73;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H73 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:107:y:2012:i:2:p:157-181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.