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Informational Boundaries of the State

Author

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  • Thiemo Fetzer

    (University of Warwick & Bonn and affiliated with CEPR, CAGE, NIESR, ECONtribute, Grantham Institute)

  • Callum Shaw

    (London School of Economics)

  • Jacob Edenhofer

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

Formal conceptions of state capacity have mostly focused on indirect measures of state capacity – by, for instance, using the state’s fiscal or extractive capacity as a proxy for its overall capacity. Yet, this input or extractive view of state capacity falls short, especially since cross-country empirical evidence suggests that similar levels of fiscal capacity, measured by tax revenues as a percent-age of GDP, can produce starkly different outputs – both in classic economic terms and in broader terms that citizens would recognize as desirable outcomes, including quality of life, health, security, equality of opportunity, and inter-generational mobility. This paper argues that a central step towards addressing these shortcomings of the conventional view is to account for a crucial and largely ignored boundary of the state or dimension of state capacity: its capac-ity to gather, process, and deploy information in its conduct of fiscal policy. Specifically, we study how the presence or lack of such informational capacity constrains governments in responding to crises, such as the recent energy price shock. Our framework provides the analytical toolkit to examine how the infor-mational boundary of the state shapes the incentives for policymakers to resort to untargeted and/or distortionary policy instruments, as opposed to targeted and non-distortionary ones, in responding to crises. The policy response to the energy crisis following the invasion of Ukraine provides the empirical context upon which we bring this theoretical framework to bear on data, though the latter can be straightforwardly extended to other recent crises.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiemo Fetzer & Callum Shaw & Jacob Edenhofer, 2024. "Informational Boundaries of the State," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 282, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:282
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Albers, Thilo N.H. & Jerven, Morten & Suesse, Marvin, 2023. "The Fiscal State in Africa: Evidence from a Century of Growth," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 65-101, January.
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    5. Thiemo Fetzer & Ludovica Gazze & Menna Bishop, 2024. "Distributional and climate implications of policy responses to energy price shocks," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 39(120), pages 711-756.
    6. Augustin Bergeron & Gabriel Tourek & Jonathan L. Weigel, 2024. "The State Capacity Ceiling on Tax Rates: Evidence From Randomized Tax Abatements in the DRC," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(4), pages 1163-1193, July.
    7. Pablo Balán & Augustin Bergeron & Gabriel Tourek & Jonathan L. Weigel, 2022. "Local Elites as State Capacity: How City Chiefs Use Local Information to Increase Tax Compliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(3), pages 762-797, March.
    8. Koichiro Ito, 2014. "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 537-563, February.
    9. Bachmann, Rüdiger & Born, Benjamin & Goldfayn-Frank, Olga & Kocharakov, Georgi & Luetticke, Ralph & Weber, Michael, 2021. "A Temporary VAT Cut as Unconventional Fiscal Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 16690, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    Cited by:

    1. Feld, Immanuel & Fetzer, Thiemo, 2024. "Performative State Capacity and Climate (In) Action," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1495, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    state capacity; economic development; carbon taxation; political economy; pork-barrel politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis

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