IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v36y2008i4p475-496.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Factors Influence the Structure of the State Income Tax?

Author

Listed:
  • Jason M. Fletcher

    (Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut)

  • Matthew N. Murray

    (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

Abstract

This article contributes to a small body of literature that examines empirically the factors affecting the structure of state income taxes. We assume vote-maximizing politicians who are potentially influenced by information spillovers from other states in the spirit of yardstick competition. A number of nominal provisions of the income tax are considered in the empirical analysis, including earned income tax credits, top bracket rates, exemptions, and income thresholds. Politicians manipulate these and other structural features of the income tax to garner votes. The results yield no evidence of yardstick competition in the setting of income tax policy, regardless of how we define neighbors. Political factors like single-party control affect the choice of some tax provisions. Demographic factors play a mixed role; in particular, characteristics of the low-income population are seldom associated with provisions that benefit these particular groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason M. Fletcher & Matthew N. Murray, 2008. "What Factors Influence the Structure of the State Income Tax?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 36(4), pages 475-496, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:36:y:2008:i:4:p:475-496
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142107303720
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142107303720
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142107303720?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. Revelli, Federico, 2006. "Performance rating and yardstick competition in social service provision," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 459-475, February.
    2. Feldstein, Martin & Wrobel, Marian Vaillant, 1998. "Can state taxes redistribute income?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 369-396, June.
    3. Bahl, Roy & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Wallace, Sally, 2002. "State and Local Government Choices in Fiscal Redistribution," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 55(4), pages 723-742, December.
    4. Garrett, Thomas A. & Marsh, Thomas L., 2002. "The revenue impacts of cross-border lottery shopping in the presence of spatial autocorrelation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 501-519, July.
    5. James M. Buchanan, 1952. "Federal Grants and Resource Allocation: A Reply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(6), pages 536-536.
    6. Howard Chernick, 1992. "A Model of the Distributional Incidence of State and Local Taxes," Public Finance Review, , vol. 20(4), pages 572-585, October.
    7. Anselin, Luc & Bera, Anil K. & Florax, Raymond & Yoon, Mann J., 1996. "Simple diagnostic tests for spatial dependence," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 77-104, February.
    8. Hettich,Walter & Winer,Stanley L., 2005. "Democratic Choice and Taxation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521021807, November.
    9. Tresch, Richard W., 2014. "Public Finance," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 3, number 9780124158344.
    10. Tosun, Mehmet Serkan & Skidmore, Mark, 2004. "Interstate Competition and State Lottery Revenues," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(2), pages 163-178, June.
    11. Wildasin, David E, 1991. "Income Redistribution in a Common Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 757-774, September.
    12. Heyndels, Bruno & Vuchelen, Jef, 1998. "Tax Mimicking Among Belgian Municipalities," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 51(1), pages 89-101, March.
    13. Brueckner, Jan K. & Saavedra, Luz A., 2001. "Do Local Governments Engage in Strategic Property-Tax Competition?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(2), pages 203-230, June.
    14. Kathy Hayes & Daniel J. Slottje, 1989. "The Efficacy of State and Local Governments' Redistributional Policies," Public Finance Review, , vol. 17(3), pages 304-322, July.
    15. James M. Buchanan, 1952. "Federal Grants and Resource Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(3), pages 208-208.
    16. Anselin, Luc, 1990. "Some robust approaches to testing and estimation in spatial econometrics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 141-163, September.
    17. Heyndels, Bruno & Vuchelen, Jef, 1998. "Tax Mimicking Among Belgian Municipalities," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 51(n. 1), pages 89-101, March.
    18. Jason M. Fletcher & Matthew N. Murray, 2006. "Competition over the Tax Base in the State Sales Tax," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(3), pages 258-281, May.
    19. Saavedra, Luz Amparo, 2000. "A Model of Welfare Competition with Evidence from AFDC," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 248-279, March.
    20. Pauly, Mark V., 1973. "Income redistribution as a local public good," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 35-58, February.
    21. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Strategic Interaction Among Governments: An Overview of Empirical Studies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(2), pages 175-188, April.
    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. Raúl Alberto Ponce Rodríguez, 2018. "Campaign contributions and local public goods in a federation," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 33(2), pages 283-311.
    2. Suárez-Varela, Marta & Martínez-Espiñeira, Roberto & González-Gómez, Francisco, 2015. "An analysis of the price escalation of non-linear water tariffs for domestic uses in Spain," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 82-93.
    3. John M. Foster, 2013. "Voter Ideology, Economic Factors, and State and Local Tax Progressivity," Public Finance Review, , vol. 41(2), pages 177-202, March.
    4. Leah Platt Boustan & Fernando Ferreira & Hernan Winkler & Eric Zolt, 2010. "Income Inequality and Local Government in the United States, 1970-2000," NBER Working Papers 16299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Raúl A. Ponce Rodríguez & Ikuho Kochi & Luis E. Gutiérrez Casas, 2015. "The structure of political power and redistribution in economies with multiple governments," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 30(2), pages 269-303.
    6. John Deskins & Brian Hill, 2023. "What Factors Entice States to Manipulate Corporate Income Tax Apportionment Formulas?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 51(5), pages 669-687, September.

    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. Małkowska, Agnieszka & Telega, Agnieszka & Głuszak, Michał & Marona, Bartłomiej, 2021. "Spatial diversification of property tax policy – Searching for yardstick competition in Polish metropolitan areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Brown, Ryan P. & Rork, Jonathan C., 2005. "Copycat gaming: A spatial analysis of state lottery structure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 795-807, November.
    3. Aurélie Cassette & Sonia Paty, 2006. "La concurrence fiscale entre communes est-elle plus intense en milieu urbain qu’en milieu rural ?," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 78, pages 5-30.
    4. Saavedra, Luz A., 2003. "Tests for spatial lag dependence based on method of moments estimation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 27-58, January.
    5. Matthieu Leprince & Thierry Madiès & Sonia Paty, 2007. "Business Tax Interactions Among Local Governments: An Empirical Analysis Of The French Case," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 603-621, August.
    6. Alejandro Esteller-Moré & Albert Solé-Ollé, 2002. "Tax Setting in a Federal System: The Case of Personal Income Taxation in Canada," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 9(3), pages 235-257, May.
    7. Federico Revelli, 2005. "On Spatial Public Finance Empirics," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 475-492, August.
    8. Revelli, Federico, 2006. "Performance rating and yardstick competition in social service provision," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 459-475, February.
    9. Eric Dubois & Matthieu Leprince & Sonia Paty, 2007. "The Effects of Politics on Local Tax Setting: Evidence from France," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(8), pages 1603-1618, July.
    10. repec:hal:cesptp:hal-00800688 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Strategic Interaction Among Governments: An Overview of Empirical Studies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(2), pages 175-188, April.
    12. Maarten Allers & J. Elhorst, 2005. "Tax Mimicking and Yardstick Competition Among Local Governments in the Netherlands," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 493-513, August.
    13. Johan Lundberg, 2021. "Horizontal interactions in local personal income taxes," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 67(1), pages 27-46, August.
    14. Lars P. Feld, 2006. "Regulatory Competition and Federalism in Switzerland: Diffusion by Horizontal and Vertical Interaction," CREMA Working Paper Series 2006-22, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    15. Martial Foucault & Thierry Madies & Sonia Paty, 2008. "Public spending interactions and local politics. Empirical evidence from French municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 57-80, October.
    16. Caldeira, Emilie, 2012. "Yardstick competition in a federation: Theory and evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 878-897.
    17. Feld Lars P. & Reulier Emmanuelle, 2009. "Strategic Tax Competition in Switzerland: Evidence from a Panel of the Swiss Cantons," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 91-114, February.
    18. Bordignon, Massimo & Cerniglia, Floriana & Revelli, Federico, 2003. "In search of yardstick competition: a spatial analysis of Italian municipality property tax setting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 199-217, September.
    19. Michael P. Devereux & Simon Loretz, 2013. "What Do We Know About Corporate Tax Competition?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(3), pages 745-774, September.
    20. Fredriksson, Per G. & List, John A. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2004. "Chasing the smokestack: strategic policymaking with multiple instruments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 387-410, July.
    21. Revelli, Federico, 2003. "Reaction or interaction? Spatial process identification in multi-tiered government structures," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 29-53, January.

    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:pubfin:v:36:y:2008:i:4:p:475-496. 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.