Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/75223 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
cege Discussion Papers No. 157
Publisher: 
University of Göttingen, Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (cege), Göttingen
Abstract: 
This paper exploits an exogenous reform of the local fiscal equalization scheme in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia to identify tax mimicking by municipalities in the neighboring state of Lower Saxony. The spatial lag regressions provide no evidence for the existence of strategic interactions in municipal business and property taxes. In contrast, traditional spatial lag regressions that rely on variation in neighbors' demographic, political, or economic characteristics for identification provide strong evidence for strategic interactions. This pattern of results indicates that most of the extant literature overestimates the importance of local tax mimicking.
Subjects: 
Tax mimicking
business tax
property tax
intergovernmental equalization
JEL: 
H20
H71
H77
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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