[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v34y2020i2p101-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incentivized for Leveling the Playing Field: Do State Economic Incentives Compensate for High Taxes?

Author

Listed:
  • Shaoming Cheng
  • Hai (David) Guo
  • Cathy Yang Liu
Abstract
State tax and nontax incentives have been widespread in the United States, though their efficacy in job creation and economic development has been repeatedly questioned in the literature by scholars and policy makers. Why, then, do states persistently pursue these incentive policies? Using the newly developed Panel Database on Incentives and Taxes, we adopt a dynamic spatial Durbin panel model to account for both temporal and spatial dependence and to shed light on this question. Empirical evidence suggests a statistically significant and positive relationship between tax credits and tax burdens (i.e., elevated tax breaks are used to offset higher tax differentials). States therefore may seek to create a level playing field in business attraction and retention by overcoming tax disadvantages. Besides, high-serial dependence is present in the use of various tax credits, suggesting a high self-perpetuating tendency that tax breaks, once introduced, are likely to be persistent over time. States are also found to be engaged both in spatial competition or imitation among geographically proximate states, and in strategic benchmarking among states that are geographically distant but economically alike.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaoming Cheng & Hai (David) Guo & Cathy Yang Liu, 2020. "Incentivized for Leveling the Playing Field: Do State Economic Incentives Compensate for High Taxes?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(2), pages 101-115, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:34:y:2020:i:2:p:101-115
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242420917219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242420917219
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242420917219?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bartik, Timothy J, 1985. "Business Location Decisions in the United States: Estimates of the Effects of Unionization, Taxes, and Other Characteristics of States," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 3(1), pages 14-22, January.
    2. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    3. Yu, Jihai & de Jong, Robert & Lee, Lung-fei, 2008. "Quasi-maximum likelihood estimators for spatial dynamic panel data with fixed effects when both n and T are large," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 118-134, September.
    4. Alberto Alesina & Tamim Bayoumi, 1996. "The Costs and Benefits of Fiscal Rules: Evidence from U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 5614, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Terry F. Buss, 2001. "The Effect of State Tax Incentives on Economic Growth and Firm Location Decisions: An Overview of the Literature," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 15(1), pages 90-105, February.
    6. Chirinko, Robert S. & Wilson, Daniel J., 2008. "State investment tax incentives: A zero-sum game?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(12), pages 2362-2384, December.
    7. Todd M. Gabe & David S. Kraybill, 2002. "The Effect of State Economic Development Incentives on Employment Growth of Establishments," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 703-730.
    8. Richard Funderburg & Timothy J. Bartik & Alan H. Peters & Peter S. Fisher, 2013. "The Impact Of Marginal Business Taxes On State Manufacturing," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 557-582, October.
    9. Michael R. Betz & Mark D. Partridge & David S. Kraybill & Linda Lobao, 2012. "Why Do Localities Provide Economic Development Incentives? Geographic Competition, Political Constituencies, and Government Capacity," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 361-391, September.
    10. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    11. Hai Guo & Shaoming Cheng, 2018. "Untargeted Incentives and Entrepreneurship: An Analysis of Local Fiscal Policies and Small Businesses in Florida," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 48(1), pages 119-135, Spring.
    12. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle.
    13. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    14. Wang, Jia, 2018. "Strategic interaction and economic development incentives policy: Evidence from U.S. States," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 249-259.
    15. Daniel Hoechle, 2007. "Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 281-312, September.
    16. Timothy J. Bartik, 2007. "Solving the Problems of Economic Development Incentives," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Ann Markusen (ed.), Reining in the Competition for Capital, chapter 5, pages 103-139, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    17. Federico Belotti & Gordon Hughes & Andrea Piano Mortari, 2017. "Spatial panel-data models using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(1), pages 139-180, March.
    18. Carlianne Patrick, 2016. "Identifying The Local Economic Development Effects Of Million Dollar Facilities," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1737-1762, October.
    19. Poterba, James M, 1996. "Budget Institutions and Fiscal Policy in the U.S. States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 395-400, May.
    20. Neumark, David & Kolko, Jed, 2010. "Do enterprise zones create jobs? Evidence from California's enterprise zone program," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 1-19, July.
    21. 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.
    22. Alt, James E. & Lowry, Robert C., 1994. "Divided Government, Fiscal Institutions, and Budget Deficits: Evidence from the States," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(4), pages 811-828, December.
    23. Reed, W. Robert, 2006. "Democrats, republicans, and taxes: Evidence that political parties matter," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(4-5), pages 725-750, May.
    24. Newman, Robert J. & Sullivan, Dennis H., 1988. "Econometric analysis of business tax impacts on industrial location: What do we know, and how do we know it?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 215-234, March.
    25. Carlianne Patrick, 2014. "Does Increasing Available Non-Tax Economic Development Incentives Result in More Jobs?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(2), pages 351-386, June.
    26. Michael Wasylenko, 1997. "Taxation and economic development: the state of the economic literature," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Mar, pages 37-52.
    27. Ellis, Stephen & Rogers, Cynthia, 2000. "Local Economic Development as a Prisoners' Dilemma: The Role of Business Climate," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 30(3), pages 315-330, Winter.
    28. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    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. Carlianne Patrick, 2014. "Does Increasing Available Non-Tax Economic Development Incentives Result in More Jobs?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(2), pages 351-386, June.
    2. Timothy J. Bartik & George A. Erickcek, 2012. "Simulating the Effects of Michigan's MEGA Tax Credit Program on Job Creation and Fiscal Benefits," Upjohn Working Papers 12-185, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. Jeffrey Thompson, 2010. "Prioritizing Approaches to Economic Development in New England: Skills, Infrastructure, and Tax Incentives," Published Studies priorities_september7_per, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    4. Carlianne Patrick, 2014. "The economic development incentives game: an imperfect information, heterogeneous communities approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 137-156, August.
    5. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller & Alexandra Tsvetkova, 2017. "Interstate Relocation Of Manufacturers And Business Climate," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 18-45, March.
    6. Russell S. Sobel & Gary A. Wagner & Peter T. Calcagno, 2024. "The political economy of state economic development incentives: A case of rent extraction," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 104-151, March.
    7. Mikhail Ivonchyk, 2022. "Local Economic Development Policies and Business Activity: Dynamic Panel Data Analysis of All County Governments in the State of Georgia," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 36(2), pages 92-107, May.
    8. Timothy J. Bartik & George Erickcek, 2014. "Simulating the Effects of the Tax Credit Program of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority on Job Creation and Fiscal Benefits," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(4), pages 314-327, November.
    9. Timothy J. Bartik, 2018. ""But For" Percentages for Economic Development Incentives: What percentage estimates are plausible based on the research literature?," Upjohn Working Papers 18-289, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. G. Jason Jolley & Mandee Foushee Lancaster & Jiang Gao, 2015. "Tax Incentives and Business Climate," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(2), pages 180-186, May.
    11. Ann Markusen (ed.), 2007. "Reining in the Competition for Capital," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number ricc.
    12. Aynur Pala, 2014. "The Effect of Valuation Ratios, Gold Price, and Petroleum Price on Equity Returns: A Comparison of Static Panel and Quantile Regressions," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(1), pages 80-89, January.
    13. Jia Wang & Weici Yuan & Cynthia Rogers, 2020. "Economic Development Incentives: What Can We Learn From Policy Regime Changes?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(2), pages 116-125, May.
    14. Santos, Carlos Filipe & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Marques, António Cardoso, 2014. "O nexus energia-crescimento e o nível da auto-suficiência na produção de petróleo: análise com macro painel [Energy-growth nexus and oil self-sufficiency: macro panel analysis]," MPRA Paper 57008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Rohlin, Shawn & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Amanda, 2014. "Tax avoidance and business location in a state border model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 34-49.
    16. William Hoyt & Christopher Jepsen & Kenneth Troske, 2009. "Business Incentives and Employment: What Incentives Work and Where?," Working Papers 2009-02, University of Kentucky, Institute for Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations.
    17. Lee, Yoonsoo, 2008. "Geographic redistribution of US manufacturing and the role of state development policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 436-450, September.
    18. Doeringer, Peter & Evans-Klock, Christine & Terkla, David, 2004. "What attracts high performance factories? Management culture and regional advantage," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 591-618, September.
    19. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    20. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Tosetti, Elisa, 2011. "Large panels with common factors and spatial correlation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(2), pages 182-202, April.

    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:sae:ecdequ:v:34:y:2020:i:2:p:101-115. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.