IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usg/econwp/201427.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union: A Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Keuschnigg, Christian
  • Loretz, Simon
  • Winner, Hannes

Abstract

This survey summarizes the state and development of European tax policy, in particular discussing the harmonization progress in direct as well as indirect taxes. Based on an over-view over the theoretical and empirical literature on tax competition, we further ask whether increased tax coordination is necessary to prevent a race to the bottom. We show that theoretical predictions on the outcome of tax competition are ambiguous, and the empirical evidence in this regard is inconclusive as well. This, in turn, gives rise to an only limited scope of stronger tax harmonization.

Suggested Citation

  • Keuschnigg, Christian & Loretz, Simon & Winner, Hannes, 2014. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union: A Survey," Economics Working Paper Series 1427, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2014:27
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ux-tauri.unisg.ch/RePEc/usg/econwp/EWP-1427.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wilson, John Douglas, 1991. "Tax competition with interregional differences in factor endowments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 423-451, November.
    2. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Tobacco taxation in the European Union," CPB Discussion Paper 67, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Ronald B. Davies & Johannes Voget, 2008. "Tax competition in an expanding European Union," Working Papers 200904, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 1990. "Tax harmonization and tax competition in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(2-3), pages 489-504, May.
    5. Keen, Michael & Konrad, Kai A., . "The theory of international tax competition and coordination," Chapters in Economics,, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    6. Osterloh, Steffen & Heinemann, Friedrich, 2013. "The political economy of corporate tax harmonization — Why do European politicians (dis)like minimum tax rates?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 18-37.
    7. Raphael Parchet, 2012. "Are Local Tax Rates Strategic Complements or Substitutes?," ERSA conference papers ersa12p313, European Regional Science Association.
    8. Stephen Gibbons & Henry G. Overman, 2012. "Mostly Pointless Spatial Econometrics?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 172-191, May.
    9. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Saving taxes through foreign plant ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 99-108, May.
    10. de Mooij, Ruud A & Ederveen, Sjef, 2003. "Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment: A Synthesis of Empirical Research," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 673-693, November.
    11. Keuschnigg, Christian & Ribi, Evelyn, 2009. "Outsourcing, unemployment and welfare policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 168-176, June.
    12. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 1997. "The selection principle and market failure in systems competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 247-274, November.
    13. Wildasin, David E., 1988. "Nash equilibria in models of fiscal competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 229-240, March.
    14. Lars P. Feld & Jost H. Heckemeyer, 2011. "Fdi And Taxation: A Meta‐Study," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 233-272, April.
    15. Bucovetsky, Sam & Wilson, John Douglas, 1991. "Tax competition with two tax instruments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 333-350, November.
    16. Keuschnigg, Christian & Devereux, Michael P., 2013. "The arm's length principle and distortions to multinational firm organization," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 432-440.
    17. Devereux, Michael P. & Lockwood, Ben & Redoano, Michela, 2008. "Do countries compete over corporate tax rates?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1210-1235, June.
    18. Anonymous, 1956. "European Coal and Steel Community," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 343-347, May.
    19. Diamond, Peter A & Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production: I--Production Efficiency," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 8-27, March.
    20. Dischinger, Matthias & Riedel, Nadine, 2011. "Corporate taxes and the location of intangible assets within multinational firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 691-707, August.
    21. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Camille Landais & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Taxation and International Migration of Superstars: Evidence from the European Football Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1892-1924, August.
    22. Jack Mintz & Henry Tulkens, 2006. "Commodity Tax Competition Between Member States of a Federation: Equilibrium and Efficiency," Springer Books, in: Parkash Chander & Jacques Drèze & C. Knox Lovell & Jack Mintz (ed.), Public goods, environmental externalities and fiscal competition, chapter 0, pages 449-489, Springer.
    23. Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2008. "Capital structure and international debt shifting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 80-118, April.
    24. Baldwin, Richard E. & Krugman, Paul, 2004. "Agglomeration, integration and tax harmonisation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-23, February.
    25. Peter Egger & Simon Loretz & Michael Pfaffermayr & Hannes Winner, 2009. "Bilateral effective tax rates and foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(6), pages 822-849, December.
    26. Christian Keuschnigg, 2009. "The Role of Corporate Taxation in a Large Welfare State," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 145(IV), pages 443-452, December.
    27. Leon Bettendorf & Michael P. Devereux & Albert Van Der Horst & Simon Loretz & Ruud A. de Mooij, 2010. "Corporate tax harmonization in the EU [Taxing corporate income]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 25(63), pages 537-590.
    28. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    29. Lisa Evers & Helen Miller & Christoph Spengel, 2015. "Intellectual property box regimes: effective tax rates and tax policy considerations," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 502-530, June.
    30. Zodrow, George R, 2003. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 651-671, November.
    31. Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael & Winner, Hannes, 2005. "Commodity taxation in a 'linear' world: a spatial panel data approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 527-541, September.
    32. Brueckner, Jan K., 1998. "Testing for Strategic Interaction Among Local Governments: The Case of Growth Controls," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 438-467, November.
    33. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922, October.
    34. Haufler,Andreas, 2008. "Taxation in a Global Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521047593, October.
    35. 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.
    36. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel, 1998. "Taxes and the location of production: evidence from a panel of US multinationals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 335-367, June.
    37. Sonia Paty & Aurélie Cassette, 2008. "Tax competition among Eastern and Western Europe: With whom do countries compete?," Post-Print halshs-00418868, HAL.
    38. Michael Devereux & Rachel Griffith, 1998. "The taxation of discrete investment choices," IFS Working Papers W98/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    39. Diamond, Peter A & Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production II: Tax Rules," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 261-278, June.
    40. Razin, Assaf & Sadka, Efraim, 1991. "International tax competition and gains from tax harmonization," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 69-76, September.
    41. Hines, James R, Jr, 1996. "Altered States: Taxes and the Location of Foreign Direct Investment in America," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1076-1094, December.
    42. John FitzGerald & Justin Johnston & James Williams, 1995. "Indirect Tax Distortions in a Europe of Shopkeepers," Papers WP056, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    43. George R. Zodrow & Peter Mieszkowski, 2019. "Pigou, Tiebout, Property Taxation, and the Underprovision of Local Public Goods," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 17, pages 525-542, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    44. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Keuschnigg, Christian & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Corporate taxation, debt financing and foreign-plant ownership," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 96-107, January.
    45. Christian Keuschnigg, 2008. "Corporate Taxation and the Welfare State," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-18, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    46. Kanbur, Ravi & Keen, Michael, 1993. "Jeux Sans Frontieres: Tax Competition and Tax Coordination When Countries Differ in Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 877-892, September.
    47. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    48. Sijbren Cnossen, 2002. "Tax Policy in the European Union," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 58(4), pages 466-558, November.
    49. Cassette, Aurélie & Paty, Sonia, 2008. "Tax competition among Eastern and Western European countries: With whom do countries compete?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 307-325, December.
    50. Bucovetsky, S., 1991. "Asymmetric tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 167-181, September.
    51. Copenhagen Economics, 2007. "Study on reduced VAT applied to goods and services in the Member States of the EU," Taxation Studies 0018, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    52. Søren Bo Nielsen, 2001. "A Simple Model of Commodity Taxation and Cross‐border Shopping," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 103(4), pages 599-623, December.
    53. Grubert, Harry & Mutti, John, 1991. "Taxes, Tariffs and Transfer Pricing in Multinational Corporate Decision Making," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(2), pages 285-293, May.
    54. Sijbren Cnossen, 2007. "Alcohol taxation and regulation in the European Union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(6), pages 699-732, December.
    55. Simon Loretz, 2008. "Corporate taxation in the OECD in a wider context," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 639-660, winter.
    56. Wilson, John D., 1986. "A theory of interregional tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 296-315, May.
    57. Ben Lockwood & Giuseppe Migali, 2009. "Did The Single Market Cause Competition in Excise Taxes? Evidence From EU Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(536), pages 406-429, March.
    58. Markus Leibrecht & Claudia Hochgatterer, 2012. "Tax Competition As A Cause Of Falling Corporate Income Tax Rates: A Survey Of Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 616-648, September.
    59. Ohsawa, Yoshiaki, 1999. "Cross-border shopping and commodity tax competition among governments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 33-51, January.
    60. Thomas A. Gresik, 2001. "The Taxing Task of Taxing Transnationals," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 800-838, September.
    61. European Commission, 2001. "Annex to Company Taxation in the Internal Market," Taxation Studies 0006, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    62. European Commission, 2001. "Company Taxation in the Internal Market," Taxation Studies 0005, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    63. Michael P Devereux, 2007. "The Impact of Taxation on the Location of Capital, Firms and Profit: a Survey of Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 0702, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    64. Charles McLure, 2000. "Implementing Subnational Value Added Taxes on Internal Trade: The Compensating VAT (CVAT)," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 7(6), pages 723-740, December.
    65. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Tobacco Taxation in the European Union," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 62(2), pages 305-322, June.
    66. 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.
    67. Andreas Haufler, 1996. "Tax coordination with different preferences for public goods: Conflict or harmony of interest?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 3(1), pages 5-28, January.
    68. Anonymous, 1956. "European Coal and Steel Community," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 665-672, November.
    69. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Tobacco Taxation in the European Union," CESifo Working Paper Series 1718, CESifo.
    70. Mintz, Jack M. & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2010. "The Indirect Side of Direct Investment: Multinational Company Finance and Taxation," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262014491, 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. Brunhart, Andreas, 2019. "Liechtensteins Gemeinde- und Landesfinanzen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Steuerwettbewerb und Gemeindeautonomie," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 103-133.
    2. Patricia Sanz‐Córdoba & Bernd Theilen, 2018. "Partial Tax Harmonization Through Infrastructure Coordination," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1399-1416, April.
    3. Olgica Glavaški & Emilija Beker Pucar & Marina Beljić & Stefan Stojkov, 2022. "Coordination vs. Competitiveness of Effective Average Tax Rates in Relation to FDI: The Case of Emerging EU Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Streif, Frank, 2015. "Tax competition in Europe: Europe in competition with other world regions?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-082, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Huang, Wei Hong & Chen, Yang & Rudkin, Simon, 2014. "Dynamic Fiscal competition with public infrastructure investment: Austerity and attracting capital inflow," RIEI Working Papers 2014-03, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration, revised 02 Mar 2016.
    6. Loretz, Simon & Oberhofer, Harald, 2014. "When Helping the Small Hurts the Middle: Beer Excise Duties and Market Concentration," Working Papers in Economics 2014-5, University of Salzburg.

    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. Zodrow, George R, 2003. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 651-671, November.
    2. 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.
    3. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Lopes da Fonseca, Mariana, 2013. "The economics and empirics of tax competition: A survey," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 163, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. Gordon, Roger H. & Hines, James Jr, 2002. "International taxation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 28, pages 1935-1995, Elsevier.
    5. Gaëtan Nicodème, 2006. "Corporate tax competition and coordination in the European Union: What do we know? Where do we stand?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 250, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    6. Miniaci Raffaele & Panteghini Paolo M. & Rivolta Giulia, 2022. "The estimation of reaction functions under tax competition," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 301-339, May.
    7. Azémar, Céline & Desbordes, Rodolphe & Wooton, Ian, 2020. "Is international tax competition only about taxes? A market-based perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 891-912.
    8. Emmanuel Bretin & Stéphane Guimbert & Thierry Madiès, 2002. "La concurrence fiscale sur le bénéfice des entreprises : théories et pratiques," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 156(5), pages 15-42.
    9. Florence Lachet-Touya, 2016. "Horizontal and Vertical Tax Interactions in a Common Agency Game," Working papers of CATT hal-02939399, HAL.
    10. Leonzio Rizzo, 2006. "Le inefficienze della competizione fiscale: una rassegna dei principali modelli teorici," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 89-120.
    11. Joel HELLIER, 2021. "Globalization and Inequality in Advanced Economies: A Provisional Assessment," Working Papers 575, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    12. Nelly Exbrayat, 2016. "Does trade liberalization trigger tax competition? Theory and evidence from OECD countries," Working Papers halshs-01328769, HAL.
    13. Agrawal, David R., 2016. "Local fiscal competition: An application to sales taxation with multiple federations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 122-138.
    14. Nelly Exbrayat, 2016. "Does trade liberalization trigger tax competition? Theory and evidence from OECD countries," Working Papers 1620, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    15. 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.
    16. Hristu-Varsakelis, Dimitrios & Karagianni, Stella & Saraidaris, Anastasios, 2011. "Equilibrium conditions in corporate tax competition and Foreign Direct Investment flows," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 13-21.
    17. Fabien Candau & Jacques Le Cacheux, 2018. "Taming Tax Competition with a European Corporate Income Tax," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(4), pages 575-611.
    18. Rota-Graziosi, Grégoire, 2019. "The supermodularity of the tax competition game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 25-35.
    19. Nelly Exbrayat, 2017. "Does Trade Liberalisation Trigger Tax Competition? Theory and Evidence from OECD Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 88-115, January.
    20. Florence Lachet-Touya, 2016. "EU tax competition and tax avoidance: A multiprincipal perspective," Working papers of CATT hal-02939340, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax Competition; tax coordination; European economic integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • 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:usg:econwp:2014:27. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vwasgch.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.