Emerging Trends in the Political Economy of Taxation
Title
Emerging Trends in the Political Economy of Taxation
Author
Kiser, Edgar
Karceski, Steven M.
Research Area
Social Institutions
Topic
Government Systems
Abstract
This essay briefly summarizes recent work and suggests future directions in the study of taxation. We analyze the determinants of total tax revenue, tax structure, tax administration, and the relationship between taxation and spending. In the section on total tax revenue, we look at the effects of democracy, debates a possible ceiling on total revenue, and whether less developed and Asian countries will catch up with revenue extraction in the developed west. The section on tax structure suggests that the era of progressive taxation may be ending and that taxes intended to serve social purposes, such as sin taxes and carbon taxes, are on the rise. Our discussion of tax administration focuses on the determinants of taxpayer compliance and whether less developed countries are developing centralized bureaucratic administrations. We conclude by looking at the relationship between taxation and spending, first exploring the increase in deficit spending and second looking at attempts by both sub‐state and supra‐state political units to get more control of taxation relative to national states.