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Switch towards tax centralization in Italy: A wake up for the local political budget cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Massimiliano Ferraresi

    (University of Ferrara)

  • Umberto Galmarini

    (University of Insubria & IEB)

  • Leonzio Rizzo

    (University of Ferrara & IEB)

  • Alberto Zanardi

    (Italian Parliamentary Budget Office)

Abstract

The abolition of the municipal property tax on owner-occupied dwellings accomplished in Italy in 2008 offers a quasi-natural experiment that allows for the identification of the presence of political budget cycles - the incentives for municipalities close to elections to manipulate policy outcome decisions. Our empirical analysis shows that the reform impacted on municipalities that in 2008 were in their pre-electoral year, by expanding the size of their budget in the form of an increase of current expenditure and fees and charges, but this did not occurred in municipalities that experienced their pre-electoral year before 2008.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Ferraresi & Umberto Galmarini & Leonzio Rizzo & Alberto Zanardi, 2016. "Switch towards tax centralization in Italy: A wake up for the local political budget cycle," Working Papers 2016/21, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    • Handle: RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2016-21
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    Cited by:

    1. Rabia Nazir & Muhammad Nasir & Idrees Khawaja, 2022. "Political Budget Cycle: A Sub-National Evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 18(3), pages 343-367, November.
    2. Ferraresi Massimiliano, 2021. "Political Budget Cycle, Tax Collection, and Yardstick Competition," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 21(3), pages 1149-1161, July.
    3. Jordi Sanjuán & Pau Rausell & Vicente Coll & Raül Abeledo, 2020. "Mayors, Using Cultural Expenditure in An Opportunistic Way Improves the Chances of Re-Election, but Do Not Do It: Revisiting Political Budget Cycles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Leonzio Rizzo & Massimiliano Ferraresi & Riccardo Secomandi, 2021. "Electoral incentives, investment in roads, and safety on local roads," Working Papers 20210710, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    5. Massimiliano Ferraresi, 2018. "Revisiting yardstick competition and spillover effects in in the new era of spatial econometrics: evidence from Italian cities," Working papers 69, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    6. Massimiliano Ferraresi & Leonzio Rizzo & Riccardo Secomandi, 2021. "Electoral incentives, investment in roads, and safety on local roads," Working papers 107, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    7. Irina Yakovenko, 2020. "Fuzzy Stochastic Automation Model for Decision Support in the Process Inter-Budgetary Regulation," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political budget cycle; transfers; federal budget; property tax; fiscal reform; local elections.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • 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

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