IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v52y2020i1p111-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bringing finance inside the state: How income-contingent loans blur the boundaries between debt and tax

Author

Listed:
  • Gareth Bryant

    (University of Sydney, Australia)

  • Ben Spies-Butcher

Abstract

Income-contingent loans are increasingly used by governments around the world to finance the costs of higher education. We use the case of income-contingent loans to explore how states are bringing the architecture of financial markets inside the state, disrupting conventional understandings of marketisation that are linked to concepts of commodification. We argue that income-contingent loans are hybrid policy instruments that combine elements of a state-instituted tax and a market-negotiated debt. We understand this hybrid construction in terms of the actors and mechanisms characteristic of what Polanyi identified in patterns of ‘redistribution’ and ‘exchange’. We then follow the contested mutations of income-contingent loans in Australia, England and the United States along three axes of hybridity that produce a variegated landscape of higher education finance: determining debt, charging interest and enforcing repayment. Our analysis reveals how, as processes of marketisation internalise financial ways of calculating and organising, states are blurring the boundaries between debts and taxes, redirecting political contestation over commodification.

Suggested Citation

  • Gareth Bryant & Ben Spies-Butcher, 2020. "Bringing finance inside the state: How income-contingent loans blur the boundaries between debt and tax," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(1), pages 111-129, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:1:p:111-129
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X18764119
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X18764119
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X18764119?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enrico Bracci & Christopher Humphrey & Jodie Moll & Ileana Steccolini, 2015. "Public sector accounting, accountability and austerity: more than balancing the books?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(6), pages 878-908, August.
    2. Bruce Chapman & David Greenaway, 2006. "Learning to Live with Loans? International Policy Transfer and the Funding of Higher Education," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 1057-1075, August.
    3. John Allen & Michael Pryke, 2013. "Financialising household water: Thames Water, MEIF, and ‘ring-fenced’ politics," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 6(3), pages 419-439.
    4. Jamie Peck, 2013. "Disembedding Polanyi: Exploring Polanyian Economic Geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1536-1544, July.
    5. Emma Dowling, 2017. "In the wake of austerity: social impact bonds and the financialisation of the welfare state in Britain," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 294-310, May.
    6. Manuel B. Aalbers & Jannes Van Loon & Rodrigo Fernandez, 2017. "The Financialization of A Social Housing Provider," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 572-587, July.
    7. Dixon, Adam D., 2014. "The New Geography of Capitalism: Firms, Finance, and Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199668243.
    8. Bruce Chapman & Timothy Higgins & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), 2014. "Income Contingent Loans," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-41320-8, December.
    9. Jamie Peck, 2013. "For Polanyian Economic Geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1545-1568, July.
    10. Haroon Chowdry & Lorraine Dearden & Alissa Goodman & Wenchao Jin, 2012. "The Distributional Impact of the 2012–13 Higher Education Funding Reforms in England," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 211-235, June.
    11. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2014. "Remarks on Income Contingent Loans: How Effective can they be at Mitigating Risk?," International Economic Association Series, in: Bruce Chapman & Timothy Higgins & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Income Contingent Loans, chapter 2, pages 31-38, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Andrea Lagna, 2016. "Derivatives and the financialisation of the Italian state," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 167-186, March.
    13. Nicholas Barr, 2014. "Income Contingent Loans and Higher Education Financing: Theory and Practice," International Economic Association Series, in: Bruce Chapman & Timothy Higgins & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Income Contingent Loans, chapter 5, pages 63-75, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107679566, January.
    15. Thelen,Kathleen, 2014. "Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107053168, January.
    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. Spies-Butcher, Ben & Bryant, Gareth, 2024. "The history and future of the tax state: Possibilities for a new fiscal politics beyond neoliberalism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Kleibert, Jana M., 2021. "Geographies of Marketization in Higher Education: Branch Campuses as Territorial and Symbolic Fixes," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 97(4), pages 315-337.

    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. Spies-Butcher, Ben & Bryant, Gareth, 2024. "The history and future of the tax state: Possibilities for a new fiscal politics beyond neoliberalism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Laura Deruytter & David Bassens, 2021. "The Extended Local State under Financialized Capitalism: Institutional Bricolage and the Use of Intermunicipal Companies to Manage Financial Pressure," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 232-248, March.
    3. Paul Langley, 2020. "The folds of social finance: Making markets, remaking the social," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(1), pages 130-147, February.
    4. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz & Martha Prevezer, 2015. "Elites, Thickets and Institutions: French Resistance versus German Adaptation to Economic Change, 1945-2015," Working Papers 63, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    5. Leone Leonida & Marianna Marra & Sergio Scicchitano & Antonio Giangreco & Marco Biagetti, 2020. "Estimating the Wage Premium to Supervision for Middle Managers in Different Contexts: Evidence from Germany and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1004-1026, December.
    6. German Feierherd & Patricio Larroulet & Wei Long, & Nora Lustig, 2021. "The Pink Tide and Inequality in Latin America," Working Papers 2105, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    7. Anne Stevenot & Loris Guery & Geoffrey Wood & Chris Brewster, 2018. "Country of Origin Effects and New Financial Actors: Private Equity Investment and Work and Employment Practices of French Firms," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 859-881, December.
    8. Ingmar Pastak & Anneli KÄHRIK, 2021. "SYMBOLIC DISPLACEMENT REVISITED: Place‐making Narratives in Gentrifying Neighbourhoods of Tallinn," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 814-834, September.
    9. Donato Di Carlo, 2020. "Understanding wage restraint in the German public sector: does the pattern bargaining hypothesis really hold water?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 185-208, May.
    10. Elizabeth Balbachevsky & Helena Sampaio & Cibele Yahn de Andrade, 2019. "Expanding Access to Higher Education and Its (Limited) Consequences for Social Inclusion: The Brazilian Experience," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 7-17.
    11. Tom VanHeuvelen & Kathy Copas, 2018. "The Intercohort Dynamics of Support for Redistribution in 54 Countries, 1985–2017," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Mikkel Mailand, 2024. "Still part of the game—corporatism and political exchanges in two small states," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 368-388, July.
    13. Simon Jäger & Shakked Noy & Benjamin Schoefer, 2022. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 53-80, Fall.
    14. Bärnthaler, Richard, 2024. "Problematising degrowth strategising: On the role of compromise, material interests, and coercion," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    15. Laura Aufrère & Philippe Eynaud & Lionel Maurel & Corinne Vercher-Chaptal, 2020. "How to conceptualize an alternative to platform capitalism according to the re-embedding process of K. Polanyi ?," CEPN Working Papers 2020-04, Centre d'Economie de l'Université de Paris Nord.
    16. Oude Groeniger, Joost & Noordzij, Kjell & van der Waal, Jeroen & de Koster, Willem, 2021. "Dutch COVID-19 lockdown measures increased trust in government and trust in science: A difference-in-differences analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    17. Lehner, Lukas & Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra, 2022. "Begging thy coworker – Labor market dualization and the slow-down of wage growth in Europe," INET Oxford Working Papers 2022-04, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    18. Hamidreza Rabiei‐Dastjerdi & Stephen A. Matthews, 2021. "Who gets what, where, and how much? Composite index of spatial inequality for small areas in Tehran," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 191-205, February.
    19. Vrooman, J. Cok & Boelhouwer, Jeroen & Gijsberts, Mérove, 2023. "A contemporary class structure: Capital disparities in the Netherlands," SocArXiv zunqs, Center for Open Science.
    20. Priti Narayan & Emily Rosenman, 2022. "From crisis to the everyday: Shouldn't we all be writing economies?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(2), pages 392-404, March.

    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:sae:envira:v:52:y:2020:i:1:p:111-129. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.