Presentación
Competition among governments is often seen as the source of all evils. At the national and regional level, competition bears the blame of driving down tax rates and benefit levels and, therefore, of threatening the survival of the welfare state. At the local level, competition among fragmented governments is seen as one of the causes of underprovision of regionally-valued public services, environmentally harmful urban sprawl and unwanted income and racial segregation. However, competition is also considered by some as the best way to reduce waste in government and force politicians to be responsive to the needs and preferences of citizens. Depending on which view prevails, enhanced cooperation among governments will be seen as more or less advisable. These cooperation efforts range from harmonization agreements, centralization or regionalisation, and the use of grants to fund decentralized spending policies.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together original research papers that cast some light on these issues. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome.
Instituciones organizadoras
Speakers
Jan K. Brueckner (University of California, Irvine)
James Hines Jr. (University of Michigan)
John D. Wilson (Michigan StateUniversity)
Scientific Committee
James Hines Jr. (University of Michigan)
Jan K. Brueckner (University of California, Irvine)
John D. Wilson (Michigan StateUniversity)
Teresa García-Milà (University Pompeu Fabra)
Jesús Ruiz-Huerta (Instituto de Estudios Fiscales)
Albert Solé-Ollé (University of Barcelona & IEB)
Núria Bosch (University of Barcelona & IEB)
Diego Martínez López (Centro de Estudios Andaluces)
Alejandro Esteller-Moré (University of Barcelona & IEB)
Topics of Interest
- Taxes (and other government instruments) and the location of individuals and firms
- Harmful tax competition, the ‘race to the bottom’, and the need for tax harmonization
- Tax competition and agglomeration economies
- Specific aids to industries and bidding for firms
- Tax competition and waste in government
- Yardstick competition and mimicking behaviour
- Vertical competition and cooperation in taxation and other government policies
- Tax competition and equalization grants
- Tiebout sorting and segregation in urban areas
- Spillovers in spending and other urban policies
- Local Government fragmentation and urban outcomes
- Evaluation of cooperation arrangements in urban areas
Deadlines
Deadline for submission of abstracts: February 1, 2007
Deadline for submission of papers: April 1, 2007
Deadline for acceptance of papers: April 15, 2007
Registration: April 2 to June 1, 2007
Registration and further information
There is a registration fee of 300 euro, which includes documentation, coffee breaks and working lunches. Participants who present a paper are excluded from this payment, free accommodation will also be provided for them, and travel expenses could be covered, totally or partially, subject to budget restrictions. Only papers presented in PDF format will be considered. They must be sent to ieb@pcb.ub.es. Further information on the workshop will be soon available at the webpage of the workshop, which could be accessed through the website of both organizing institutions: www.pcb.ub.es/ieb and www.centrodeestudiosandaluces.es