IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/albaec/2009_017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Marginal Cost of Public Funds and the Flypaper Effect

Author

Listed:
  • Dahlby, Bev

    (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

Abstract

A lump-sum intergovernmental transfer has a "price effect", as well as an "income effect", because it allows the recipient government to reduce its tax rate, which lowers its marginal cost of public funds, while still providing the same level of public service. This reduction in the effective price of providing the public service helps to explain the "flypaper effect" - the empirical observation that a lump-sum grant has a much larger effect on spending than an increase in personal income. Contrary to the assertions of Mieszkowski (1994) and Hines and Thaler (1995), a model of a benevolent local government financing its expenditures with a distortionary tax predicts flypaper effects from lump-sum grants that are similar to those observed in many econometric studies

Suggested Citation

  • Dahlby, Bev, 2009. "The Marginal Cost of Public Funds and the Flypaper Effect," Working Papers 2009-17, University of Alberta, Department of Economics, revised 01 Jun 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:albaec:2009_017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~econwps/2009/wp2009-17.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Smart, 2007. "Raising taxes through equalization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1188-1212, November.
    2. Hammes, David L & Wills, Douglas T, 1987. "Fiscal Illusion and the Grantor Government in Canada," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(4), pages 707-713, October.
    3. Buettner, Thiess & Wildasin, David E., 2006. "The dynamics of municipal fiscal adjustment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1115-1132, August.
    4. Becker, Gary S & Mulligan, Casey B, 2003. "Deadweight Costs and the Size of Government," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 293-340, October.
    5. Bev Dahlby, 2008. "The Marginal Cost of Public Funds: Theory and Applications," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262042509, April.
    6. John E. Roemer & Joaquim Silvestre, 2002. "The “Flypaper Effect” Is Not an Anomaly," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Andrew Haughwout & Robert Inman & Steven Craig & Thomas Luce, 2004. "Local Revenue Hills: Evidence from Four U.S. Cities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(2), pages 570-585, May.
    8. Wallace E. Oates & Wallace E. Oates, 2004. "An Essay on Fiscal Federalism," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 22, pages 384-414, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Baker, Michael & Payne, A. Abigail & Smart, Michael, 1999. "An empirical study of matching grants: the 'cap on CAP'," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 269-288, May.
    10. Lars-Erik Borge, 1995. "Lump-Sum Intergovernmental Grants Have Price Effects: a Note," Public Finance Review, , vol. 23(2), pages 271-274, April.
    11. Michael Smart, 1998. "Taxation and Deadweight Loss in a System of Intergovernmental Transfers," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 189-206, February.
    12. Logan, Robert R, 1986. "Fiscal Illusion and the Grantor Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(6), pages 1304-1318, December.
    13. Peter C. Coyte & Stuart Landon, 1990. "Cost-Sharing versus Block-Funding in a Federal System: A Demand Systems Approach," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 23(4), pages 817-838, November.
    14. Robin Boadway & Anwar Shah, 2007. "Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers : Principles and Practice," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7171.
    15. Craig Volden, 2007. "Intergovernmental Grants: A Formal Model of Interrelated National and Subnational Political Decisions," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 209-243, Spring.
    16. Dollery, Brian E & Worthington, Andrew C, 1996. "The Empirical Analysis of Fiscal Illusion," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), pages 261-297, September.
    17. Winer, Stanley L, 1983. "Some Evidence on the Effect of the Separation of Spending and Taxing Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(1), pages 126-140, February.
    18. Dahlby, Bev, 2009. "The Optimal Taxation Approach to Intergovernmental Grants," Working Papers 2009-16, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    19. Bailey, Stephen J & Connolly, Stephen, 1998. "The Flypaper Effect: Identifying Areas for Further Research," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 95(3-4), pages 335-361, June.
    20. Hamilton, Jonathan H., 1986. "The flypaper effect and the deadweight loss from taxation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 148-155, March.
    21. David F. Bradford & Wallace E. Oates, 1971. "The Analysis of Revenue Sharing in a New Approach to Collective Fiscal Decisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 85(3), pages 416-439.
    22. Stewart, Mark F, 1996. "Fiscal Illusion (the Flypaper Effect) and Government Spending in Australia," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(67), pages 390-396, December.
    23. James R. Hines & Richard H. Thaler, 1995. "The Flypaper Effect," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 217-226, Fall.
    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. Bev Dahlby & Ergete Ferede, 2016. "The stimulative effects of intergovernmental grants and the marginal cost of public funds," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 114-139, February.
    2. Massimiliano Ferraresi & Umberto Galmarini & Leonzio Rizzo & Alberto Zanardi, 2019. "Switch toward tax centralization in Italy: a wake-up for the local political budget cycle," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 872-898, August.
    3. Orkhan ISMAYILOV, 2016. "Flypaper Nonprofits: Crowding In And Crowding Out Effects Of Grants On Nonprofit Finance," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(3), pages 77-87, December.
    4. Federico Revelli, 2013. "Tax Mix Corners and Other Kinks," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 741-776.
    5. Manuel E. Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2022. "On the effects of intergovernmental grants: a survey," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2204, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    6. André Decoster & Serio Perelman & Dieter Vandelannoote & Toon Vanheukelom & Gerlinde Verbist, 2015. "A birdÂ’’s eye view on 20 years of tax-benefit reforms in Belgium," Working Papers 1502, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    7. Paulo Arvate & Enlinson Mattos, Fabiana Rocha, 2015. "Intergovernmental transfers and public spending in Brazilian municipalities," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2015_03, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    8. 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.
    9. Lucie Gadenne, 2017. "Tax Me, but Spend Wisely? Sources of Public Finance and Government Accountability," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 274-314, January.
    10. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 2017. "The impressive contribution of Canadian economists to fiscal federalism theory and policy," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1348-1380, December.
    11. Vincent Geloso & Chandler S. Reilly, 2022. "Did the ‘Quiet Revolution’ Really Change Anything?," CIRANO Working Papers 2022s-30, CIRANO.
    12. Liu, Qijun & Song, Lijie, 2022. "Do intergovernmental transfers boost intergenerational income mobility? Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 293-309.
    13. Carlos A. Vegh y Guillermo Vuletin, 2016. "Unsticking the flypaper effect using distortionary taxation," Económica, Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 62, pages 185-237, January-D.
    14. Cristian F. Sepúlveda, 2017. "Flypaper effect, intergovernmental transfers, income and substitution effects, marginal cost of public funds," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 222(3), pages 91-108, September.
    15. Allers, Maarten A. & Vermeulen, Wouter, 2016. "Capitalization of equalizing grants and the flypaper effect," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 115-129.
    16. Orkhan ISMAYILOV, 2016. "Flypaper Nonprofits: Crowding In And Crowding Out Effects Of Grants On Nonprofit Finance," Regional Science Inquiry, Hellenic Association of Regional Scientists, vol. 0(3), pages 77-87, December.
    17. repec:dgr:rugsom:14023-eef is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Becker, Johannes & Hopp, Daniel & Kriebel, Michael, 2020. "Mental accounting of public funds – The flypaper effect in the lab," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 321-336.
    19. Vermeulen, W. & Allers, Maarten, 2014. "Fiscal equalization, capitalization and the flypaper effect," Research Report 14023-EEF, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    20. repec:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon03 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Verbist, Gerlinde & Vandelannoote, Dieter & Decoster, André & Perelman, Sergio & Vanheukelom, Toon, 2015. "A bird’s eye view on 20 years of tax-benefit reforms in Belgium," EUROMOD Working Papers EM10/15, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    22. David R. Agrawal & Jan K. Brueckner & Marius Brülhart, 2024. "Fiscal Federalism in the 21st Century," CESifo Working Paper Series 10951, CESifo.
    23. Evgeny N. Timushev, 2017. "Flypaper Effect: Causes and Demonstration in the Budgetary System of Russia," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 5, pages 60-70, October.
    24. Lauro Carnicelli & Fernando Antonio Slaibe Postali, 2014. "Oil windfalls and local fiscal effort: a propensity score analysis," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2014_03, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    25. Li, Tianyu & Du, Tongwei, 2021. "Vertical fiscal imbalance, transfer payments, and fiscal sustainability of local governments in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 392-404.

    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. 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.
    2. Bev Dahlby & Ergete Ferede, 2016. "The stimulative effects of intergovernmental grants and the marginal cost of public funds," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 114-139, February.
    3. Carlos A. Vegh & Guillermo Vuletin, 2016. "Unsticking the flypaper effect using distortionary taxation," Económica, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 62, pages 185-237, January-D.
    4. Fernando M. Aragon, 2013. "Local Spending, Transfers, and Costly Tax Collection," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(2), pages 343-370, June.
    5. Leonel Muinelo-Gallo, 2021. "Testing regional intergovernmental transfers effects in Uruguay," Sobre México. Revista de Economía, Sobre México. Temas en economía, vol. 2(4), pages 6-38.
    6. Yihua Yu & Jing Wang & Xi Tian, 2016. "Identifying the Flypaper Effect in the Presence of Spatial Dependence: Evidence from Education in China's Counties," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 93-110, March.
    7. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 2017. "The impressive contribution of Canadian economists to fiscal federalism theory and policy," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1348-1380, December.
    8. Jorge Pablo Puig & Alberto Porto, 2021. "On the interaction between own revenues and intergovernmental transfers. Evidence from Argentinean local governments," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4508, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    9. repec:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon03 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Lauro Carnicelli & Fernando Antonio Slaibe Postali, 2014. "Oil windfalls and local fiscal effort: a propensity score analysis," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2014_03, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    11. M. Rose Olfert, 2016. "Regional Inequality and Decentralized Governance: Canada's Provinces," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 201-222, Winter.
    12. Juan González Alegre, 2012. "An evaluation of EU regional policy. Do structural actions crowd out public spending?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 1-21, April.
    13. Cristian F. Sepúlveda, 2017. "Flypaper effect, intergovernmental transfers, income and substitution effects, marginal cost of public funds," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 222(3), pages 91-108, September.
    14. Becker, Johannes & Hopp, Daniel & Kriebel, Michael, 2020. "Mental accounting of public funds – The flypaper effect in the lab," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 321-336.
    15. Dahlby, Bev & Rodden, Jonathan & Wilson, Sam, 2009. "A Median Voter Model of the Vertical Fiscal Gap," Working Papers 2009-14, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    16. Muinelo-Gallo, Leonel & Azar, Paola, 2018. "Testing regional intergovernmental transfers asymmetries in Uruguay," MPRA Paper 90245, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Vicente Rios & Miriam Hortas-Rico & Pedro Pascual, 2022. "What shapes the flypaper effect? The role of the political environment in the budget process," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 793-820, September.
    18. Evgeny N. Timushev, 2017. "Flypaper Effect: Causes and Demonstration in the Budgetary System of Russia," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 5, pages 60-70, October.
    19. Jorge Puig & Alberto Porto, 2022. "On the fiscal behavior of subnational governments. A long-term vision for Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4588, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    20. Manuel E. Lago & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2022. "On the effects of intergovernmental grants: a survey," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 2204, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    21. Helm, Ines & Stuhler, Jan, 2021. "The Dynamic Response of Municipal Budgets to Revenue Shocks," IZA Discussion Papers 14369, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    flypaper effect; marginal cost of public funds; intergovernmental grants; fiscal federalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ris:albaec:2009_017. 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: Joseph Marchand (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deualca.html .

    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.