IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/inecre/v58y2023i1d10.1007_s41775-023-00185-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional policy interaction in a federal economy

Author

Listed:
  • Bodhisattva Sengupta

    (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)

Abstract

A key question in fiscal federalism is the determination of horizontal policy interdependence at the regional levels. In this paper, we explore the relationship between policies chosen by different regions within a federation in the presence of expenditure spillover and federal redistribution. In a federal economy, provinces produce public goods. These public goods exhibit inter-jurisdictional spillover. A province’s marginal utility from ‘own public good’ may increase (complementarity, C) or decrease (substitutability, S) in neighboring provinces’ public good production. In addition, federal authority transfer funds to the provinces. The fund can either be a targeted grant (to the public good production) or a general-purpose grant. Jurisdictions bear the cost of raising the local revenues. We employ the notion of subgame perfect equilibrium in which provinces (as the first mover) choose their taxes. As the second mover, the central authority determines the grants conditional on local taxes. Given this setup, we examine how interactions between different modes of grants, public good spillover, and cost parameters determine the slope of provincial reaction functions. We demonstrate that tackling the problem on a case-by-case basis is better.

Suggested Citation

  • Bodhisattva Sengupta, 2023. "Regional policy interaction in a federal economy," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 91-103, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:inecre:v:58:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s41775-023-00185-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s41775-023-00185-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41775-023-00185-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41775-023-00185-w?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. 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.
    2. Thiess Buettner & Manuela Krause, 2021. "Fiscal equalization as a driver of tax increases: empirical evidence from Germany," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(1), pages 90-112, February.
    3. David R. Agrawal & William H. Hoyt & John D. Wilson, 2022. "Local Policy Choice: Theory and Empirics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1378-1455, December.
    4. Hendrik Vrijburg & Ruud Mooij, 2016. "Tax rates as strategic substitutes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 2-24, February.
    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. Case, Anne C. & Rosen, Harvey S. & Hines, James Jr., 1993. "Budget spillovers and fiscal policy interdependence : Evidence from the states," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 285-307, October.
    7. Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 1995. "Incumbent Behavior: Vote-Seeking, Tax-Setting, and Yardstick Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 25-45, March.
    8. Raphaël Parchet, 2019. "Are Local Tax Rates Strategic Complements or Strategic Substitutes?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 189-224, May.
    9. Alan Williams, 1966. "The Optimal Provision of Public Goods in a System of Local Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 18-33.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mariana Lopes da Fonseca, 2017. "Tax Mimicking in Local Business Taxation: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Portugal," CESifo Working Paper Series 6647, CESifo.
    2. Chirinko, Robert S. & Wilson, Daniel J., 2017. "Tax competition among U.S. states: Racing to the bottom or riding on a seesaw?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 147-163.
    3. Sandy Fréret & Denis Maguain, 2017. "The effects of agglomeration on tax competition: evidence from a two-regime spatial panel model on French data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(6), pages 1100-1140, December.
    4. Pantelis Kammas, 2011. "Strategic fiscal interaction among OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 459-480, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Yu, Jihai & Zhou, Li-An & Zhu, Guozhong, 2016. "Strategic interaction in political competition: Evidence from spatial effects across Chinese cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 23-37.
    7. Rosella Levaggi & Paolo M. Panteghini, 2021. "Public expenditure spillovers: an explanation for heterogeneous tax reaction functions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(3), pages 497-514, June.
    8. Luz Amparo Saavedra, 2000. "Do Local Governments Engage in Strategic Property- Tax competition?," Borradores de Economia 139, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Aleksandra Riedl & Silvia Rocha-Akis, 2012. "How elastic are national corporate income tax bases in OECD countries? The role of domestic and foreign tax rates," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(2), pages 632-671, May.
    10. Jeffrey Clemens & Stan Veuger, 2024. "Intergovernmental Grants and Policy Competition: Concepts, Institutions, and Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: Policy Responses to Tax Competition, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Lyytikäinen, Teemu, 2012. "Tax competition among local governments: Evidence from a property tax reform in Finland," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(7-8), pages 584-595.
    12. Edmark, Karin & Ågren, Hanna, 2008. "Identifying strategic interactions in Swedish local income tax policies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 849-857, May.
    13. Manuel E. Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2024. "On the effects of intergovernmental grants: a survey," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(3), pages 856-908, June.
    14. Yang, Chao & Lee, Lung-fei, 2018. "Strategical interactions on municipal public safety spending with correlated private information," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 86-102.
    15. Baskaran, Thushyanthan, 2013. "Identifying local tax mimicking: Administrative borders and a policy reform," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 157, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Marcel Gérard & Laurent van Malderen, 2012. "Tax Interaction among Walloon Municipalities: Is there Room for Yardstick Competition, Intellectual Trend and Partisan Monopoly Effect?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4025, CESifo.
    18. Arfat Ahmad Sofi & Subash Sasidharan, 2018. "Do Indian States Mimic, Compete or Interact in Local Public Spending? A Spatial Econometric Analysis," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 187-213, June.
    19. Joan Costa-Font & Filipe De-Albuquerque & Hristos Doucouliagos, 2014. "Do jurisdictions compete on taxes? A meta-regression analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 451-470, December.
    20. Holzmann, Carolin & von Schwerin, Axel, 2015. "Economic integration and interdependence of tax policy," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 14/2015, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Federalism; Public goods; Spillover; Complementarity; Substitutability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
    • R5 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis

    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:spr:inecre:v:58:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s41775-023-00185-w. 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.