The object of this dissertation is the evaluation of the effectiveness of fiscal policy as stabilizing tools in the Baltic countries. The aim of the research is to evaluate the effects of tax and fiscal policies on such Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian macroeconomic variables as gross domestic product, employment, foreign direct investment and interest rates. Structural Vector Auto Regressive mode (SVAR) has been employed for the analysis. Results of the research suggest that tax shocks may have different effects in different countries: labour tax increases adversely affect output and employment in all economies. It is only Lithuania where indirect tax increases negatively affect output while in Latvia and Estonia indirect tax shocks effects are positive. Persistent results of the negative corporate income tax effects on macroeconomic variables were obtained only in Lithuania as well, results in Latvia and Estonia vary depending on the SVAR variable composition. The results show that the increase in government spending leads to GDP, employment and foreign direct investment decline in Estonia and Lithuania, while in Latvia the negative impact is less significant. On the other hand, public investment has a positive impact on macroeconomic variables in all three economies. Interest rates are relatively insensitive to fiscal shocks in all Baltic countries, and this may be explained by the high degree of economic openness and dependence on global market fluctuations. / Disertacijoje tiriama fiskalinės politikos įtaka Lietuvos, Latvijos ir Estijos makroekonominiam stabilumui. Disertacijos tikslas – nustatyti Baltijos šalių mokesčių ir fiskalinės politikos įtaką ekonominiams procesams ir kiekybiškai įvertinti fiskalinės politikos priemonių poveikį makroekonominiams rodikliams. Šiame darbe buvo tirti svarbiausių fiskalinės politikos priemonių – pagrindinių mokesčių, valdžios sektoriaus investicijų ir visų išlaidų poveikis BVP, užimtiesiems, investicijoms ir palūkanų normoms. Pasitelkus vieną populiariausių fiskalinės politikos efektams tirti taikomų metodų – struktūrinius vektorinius autoregresinius modelius (SVAR) – buvo prieita prie tokių išvadų: skirtingų mokesčių šokai nevienodai veikia Baltijos šalių makroekonominius rodiklius. Darbo mokesčių didinimas neigiamai veikia BVP ir užimtumą visose ekonomikose; bet netiesioginių mokesčių didinimas teigiamai veikia BVP Latvijoje ir Estijoje, ir tik Lietuvoje poveikis yra neigiamas. Tik Lietuvoje buvo gauti stabilūs rezultatai apie neigiamą pelno mokesčių poveikį ekonomikai. Latvijoje ir Estijoje poveikio efektai varijuoja priklausomai nuo SVAR modelio kintamųjų sudėties. Rezultatai rodo, kad valdžios sektoriaus išlaidų didinimas lemia BVP, užimtumo ir tiesioginių investicijų mažėjimą Lietuvoje ir Estijoje. Latvijoje neigiama poveikio įtaka yra mažiau reikšminga. Kita vertus, valdžios sektoriaus investicijos turi teigiamą poveikį ekonomikos procesams visose trijose ekonomikose. Palūkanų normos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

The thesis is divided into three chapters.1) I study how monetary policy should be optimally designed when households show financial wealth heterogeneity.Main results: thanks to its ability to affect interest payments volatility, monetary policy has real effects even in a flexible-price cashless-limit environment; second, in a setup with nominal rigidities, price stability is no longer optimal. The extent of deviation from price stability depends on the initial level of debt dispersion.2) I assess the role of housing price movements in influencing the optimal design of monetary policy. Under the optimal simple rule, housing price movements should not be a separate target variable in addition to inflation. Furthermore, the welfare loss arising from targeting housing prices becomes quantitatively more significant the higher the degree of access to the credit market.3) I analyze the effects of fiscal policy in a currency area. Results: a public spending shock in one region increases private agents demand for imports and appreciates the terms of trade; second, a countercyclical fiscal rule can restore the Taylor principle, the uniqueness of the equilibrium and reduce macro-volatility.

This thesis studies tax competition from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. In chapter 1 we develop a dynamic two-country optimal taxation model to study tax competition. We find that tax competition is costly and that the equilibrium with tax competition differs remarkably from the first-best outcome in a fiscal union, both during transition and in the long run. In chapter 2 we empirically test the relationship between taxation and agglomeration economies. In the presence of agglomeration economies firms are less sensitive to changes in tax rates, and therefore capital tax competition has a smaller effect on investment. We find some evidence that municipalities in large agglomerations set higher tax rates than municipalities in smaller ones. / Esta tesis estudia la competencia impositiva tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como empírico. En el capítulo 1, desarrollamos un modelo dinámico de imposición óptima en dos países con el objetivo de estudiar la competencia impositiva. Encontramos que la competencia impositiva es costosa y que el equilibrio con competencia impositiva difiere significativamente del mejor resultado en una unión fiscal, tanto durante la transición como en el largo plazo. En el capítulo 2, analizamos empíricamente la relación entre imposición y economías de aglomeración. En presencia de economías de aglomeración, las empresas son menos sensibles a cambios en los tipos impositivos y, por tanto, la competencia impositiva para atraer capital tiene efectos menores en la inversión. Encontramos evidencia a favor de que los municipios en grandes aglomeraciones establecen tipos impositivos más altos que los que están en pequeñas aglomeraciones.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Willoughby, Katherine; Committee Member: Eger, Robert; Committee Member: Kingsley, Gordon; Committee Member: Sjoquist, David; Committee Member: Wallace, Sally.

Thesis (doctoral) - Freie Universität, Berlin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-203).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-08-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:50:58Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 reis_sg_me_arafcl.pdf: 759441 bytes, checksum: d0ec83df886c99b13770a5ab0db4de42 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo analisar os efeitos do ajuste fiscal na economia brasileira no período de 1994 a 2008 sobre a cadeia produtiva. Procura-se descrever os efeitos restritivos deste ajuste fiscal a partir da inadequada coordenação da política fiscal e monetária. A política fiscal tornou-se subordinada à monetária, exigindo robustos superávits primários atrelados à ascendente e excessiva carga tributária. O orçamento, no entanto, permaneceu registrando déficit nominal. A maior parte das despesas públicas corresponde às despesas financeiras (juros e encargos da dívida). A política econômica e as medidas macroeconômicas tomadas no âmbito do ajuste fiscal no período que se trata provocaram a queda do multiplicador de gastos que, por sua vez, inibiu a geração de emprego, renda e consumo. A reflexão sobre a mensuração da carga tributária permite desenvolver uma análise crítica e descritiva do ajuste fiscal num contexto de dominância monetária e estabelecer o vínculo entre as decisões do governo, nas matérias fiscal e monetária, com o setor produtivo. Conseqüentemente, isso repercutiu sobre o nível de investimento e de reinvestimento na economia / This research aims to examine the effects of fiscal adjustment in the Brazilian economy during the period 1994 to 2008 on the chain. It seeks to describe the restrictive effects of fiscal adjustment from the inadequate coordination of monetary and fiscal policy. Fiscal policy has become subject to monetary policy, requiring robust primary surpluses and tied up the excessive tax burden. The budget, however, remained recording nominal deficit. Most public expenditure meets the financial expenses (interest and debt charges). The economic policy and the macroeconomic measures taken in the context of fiscal adjustment in the period that this precipitated the collapse multiplier of expenses that, in turn, inhibited the generation of employment, income and consumption. The discussion on the measurement of tax burden can develop a descriptive and critical analysis of fiscal adjustment in a context of monetary dominance and establish a link between the government decisions in matters fiscal and monetary policy, with the productive sector. Consequently, this impacted on the level of investment and reinvestment in the economy

[pt] O presente trabalho procura investigar as implicações de se seguir um regime de meta para a inflação sob dominância fiscal. Para isto é desenvolvido um modelo novo keynesiano de equilíbrio geral dinâmico estocástico (DSGE) em que a autoridade monetária segue uma regra de Taylor, com o objetivo de estabilizar a inflação e o produto, e a autoridade fiscal segue uma regra de superávit primário, com a finalidade de se estabilizar a dívida pública. Este modelo se caracteriza por apresentar uma coordenação entre as autoridades fiscal e monetária em que a política monetária é dominante. Posteriormente, a regra monetária é modificada para incorporar uma resposta da autoridade monetária à dívida pública e a regra fiscal passa a ser exógena (ativa), caracterizando um regime de dominância fiscal. Por fim, o modelo é calibrado com os parâmetros estimados por De Castro et al (2015) para a economia brasileira e são computadas as variâncias da taxa de inflação e do produto (proxies para a perda de bem estar decorrente das flutuações econômicas) nos diferentes regimes de coordenação política para distintas parametrizações das funções de reação das autoridades monetária e fiscal. Mostra-se, assim, que, quando se está em regime de dominância fiscal, o mais indicado à autoridade monetária é não reagir à inflação de modo agressivo. Em outros termos, isto significa que se o Banco Central quer que a inflação fique na meta – como requer um regime de meta -, ele não pode de forma alguma ignorar a postura da autoridade fiscal. / [en] The present work seeks to investigate the implications of following an inflation targeting regime under fiscal dominance. For this, a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model is developed in which the monetary authority follows a Taylor rule with the objective of stabilizing inflation and output, and the fiscal authority follows a primary surplus rule, with The purpose of stabilizing public debt. This model is characterized by a coordination between the fiscal and monetary authorities in which monetary policy is dominant. Subsequently, the monetary rule is modified to incorporate a response of the monetary authority to the public debt and the fiscal rule becomes exogenous (active), characterizing a regime of fiscal dominance. Finally, the model is calibrated with the parameters estimated by De Castro et al. (2015) for the Brazilian economy and the inflation rate and output gap variances (proxies for the welfare losses due to economic fluctuations) are computed in the different regimes and under different specifications of the monetary and fiscal authorities reaction functions. It is shown that under a fiscal dominance regime, the monetary authority should not react aggressively to inflation. In other words, this means that if the Central Bank wants inflation to stay in it s target level - as it is required under an inflation targeting regime - it cannot in any way ignore the fiscal authority s stance.

Partindo da Teoria Pós-Keynesiana, o objetivo desta Tese, composta de três Ensaios, é analisar a política fiscal do estado subnacional Rio Grande do Sul de 1995 a 2014 e o desempenho da dívida renegociada com a União. O primeiro Ensaio aborda a política fiscal de administração dos gastos públicos do Estado, identificando se os investimentos públicos foram usados como política anticíclica, de acordo com as contribuições de Keynes (1980) sobre orçamentos segregados em corrente e de capital e de Minsky (1986) sobre o Big Government. Os números analisados mostram que as receitas correntes arrecadadas e as despesas correntes executadas aumentaram respectivamente 3,2% e 4,2% ao ano no período, o que sinaliza para a formação de um desequilíbrio estrutural corrente. A diferença entre as perdas de ICMS das exportações (Lei Kandir) e a compensação do Estado aumentou e a participação do Estado nas receitas da União cresceu em média 0,8% ao ano no período. Neste último caso, ocorreu uma reversão, elevando-se a cota-parte do RS no FPE e diminuindo a cota-parte do IPI exportações. Os dados indicam que a média anual de investimentos públicos oscilou. Eles caíram no início e aumentaram no final dos mandatos de cada um dos governadores do período, o que caracteriza ciclos políticos. Os acréscimos mais significativos de investimentos públicos ocorreram apenas quando o Estado contou com fontes extraordinárias de receitas, como privatizações, aumento de impostos, venda de ações ou operações de crédito. Para comprovar se a política fiscal foi anticíclica, desenvolveu-se o Índice Minskyano de Governo (iMG), que mede a relação entre a variação do déficit e dos investimentos públicos. No período, o iMG aponta que apenas em 2003 e 2008, com as taxas do PIB do RS em desaceleração, e 2005 e 2009, com as taxas do PIB negativas, o Estado executou uma política anticíclica de investimentos públicos. Porém, ela foi tímida, denominada de Small Government. O segundo Ensaio verifica se as propostas de política tributária do Estado de 1995 a 2014 coincidem com as apontadas por Keynes (1964), quais sejam: melhorar a capacidade de gastos do governo; reduzir impostos sobre consumo e investimentos para aumentar a demanda agregada; e elevar os tributos sobre a renda e a herança para diminuir a desigualdade. Pela política tributária realizada no período, percebe-se que apenas a primeira foi confirmada. Não há informações suficientes que comprovem a segunda. E sobre a terceira, houve até um retrocesso, com a diminuição do número de alíquotas do imposto sobre herança. Partindo da hipótese da fragilidade financeira de Minsky (1975, 1986, 1992), o terceiro Ensaio faz uma análise do fluxo de caixa da dívida pública do RS com a União, que foi renegociada em 1998 num cenário de avanço das políticas neoliberais no Brasil. Para isso foi proposto o Índice de fragilidade financeira da dívida pública (IFFDP). Com frequência mensal, o IFFDP aponta que a dívida pública do RS teve uma estrutura Ponzi de novembro de 1998 a fevereiro de 1999 e de abril de 2000 a agosto de 2003, períodos em que o indexador da dívida, o IGP-Di, sofreu fortes elevações, sobretudo pela volatilidade da taxa de câmbio. De março de 1999 a março de 2000 e de setembro de 2003 a maio de 2013, o Índice caracterizou-se como especulativo. Apenas a partir de junho de 2013, o IFFDP passou a ser considerado hedge, ou seja, o fluxo de caixa tem certa margem de segurança. / Based on the Post-Keynesian theory, the aim of this Theses, composed by three Essays, is to analyze the fiscal policy of the subnational state of Rio Grande do Sul from 1995 to 2014 as well as the development of the negotiated debit with the union. The First Essay approaches the fiscal policy of the public expenditure administration of the state, identifying if the public investments were used as anticyclical policies, according to Keynes’ contributions (1980) about budgets segregated into current and capital and according to Minsky’s contributions (1986) about the Big Government. The analyzed numbers show that the collected current revenues and the executed current expenses increase respectively 3,2% and 4,2% a year in the period, which signalizes a current structural unbalance formation. The differences among the losses of ICMS on exportations (Lei Kandir) and the State compensation increased and the State participation in the Union revenues increased on average 0.8% a year in the period. In the latter case, a reversion has occurred, increasing the quota-part of RS at FPE and decreasing the quota-part of exportations IPI. The data indicate that the annual average of public investments has oscillated. They fell at the beginning and increased at the end of each governor’s mandate in the period, which characterizes political cycles. The most significant increases of public investments occurred only when the State counted on extraordinary revenues sources, such as privatizations, taxes increases, stocks selling or credit operations. In order to prove if the fiscal policy was anticyclical, the Government Minskano Index (iMG) was developed, which measures the relation between the deficit variation and the public investments. However, it was timid, denominated Small Government, based on the Minsky’s contributions. The Second Essay verifies if the tax policy propositions of the State from 1998 to 2014 coincide with the ones pointed by Keynes (1964), as follows: to improve the government capacity of expenses; to decrease taxes on consume and investments in order to increase the aggregated demand; and to elevate the tributes over the income and the inheritance in order to decrease the inequality. Through the tax policy realized in the period, it is possible to perceive that only the first one was confirmed. There is no enough information which proves the second one. And about the third one, there was even a retreat, with the decreasing of the number of tax on inheritance aliquots. Assuming the financial instability hypothesis proposed by Minsky (1975, 1986, 1992), the Third Essay examines the cash flow of RS’s public debt with the Union, which was renegotiated in 1998 in an advance scenario of neoliberal policies in Brazil. For this reason, the Financial Fragility of the Public Debt Index (IFFDP) was purposed. With a monthly frequency, the IFIPD points out that the RS’s public debt had a Ponzi structure from November 1998 to February 1999 and from April 2000 to August 2003, periods in which the debt indexer, the IGP-Di, suffered severe elevations, especially by the volatility of the exchange rate. From March 1999 to March 2000 and from September 2003 to May 2013, the index was characterized as speculative. Only since June 2013 the IFFDP has been considered hedge, i.e., the cash flow has certain margin of safety.

This study examined whether South African government reacted to its debt positions in a sustainable manner during the period 1999 quarter 1 to 2016 quarter 2. Estimation of the fiscal reaction function was conducted by integrating the exogenous short-run impact of monetary policy stance on both primary balance and public debt positions. The VEC model approach was applied to estimate the fiscal reaction function. Results indicate that fiscal policy in South Africa was sustainable during the respective sample period while monetary policy stance had statistically significant impacts on both primary balance and public debt positions. The significant impacts of monetary policy stance on primary balance and public debt show that monetary policy contributes to ensuring fiscal sustainability in South Africa, hence government needs to harmonize monetary efforts in managing public debt. The estimated impact of the business cycle on primary balance positions indicate that fiscal policy was countercyclical in nature. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

In a world of economic uncertainty and manifold social problems, South Africa has its own unique challenges of low economic growth, persistent budget deficits that produce increasing government debt and the highest level of economic inequality in the world. The history of injustice and economic marginalisation and the failure of the economy to provide inclusive growth drives an urgent need to address economic inequality through tax policy, placing ever more focus on wealth taxes as a possible solution. There is a hope is that taxing the wealthy may provide the opportunity to redistribute desperately-needed resources to those denied the opportunity to build wealth and who are trapped in the cycle of poverty. Yet, as appealing as a new wealth tax may seem, the introduction of such a tax carries with it a range of risks, not all of which are known. Of great concern is the possible effect on the economy, which, in its vulnerable state, cannot afford any loss of capital and investment. Very little research has been done on wealth tax in the South African context and there is a dearth of literature focusing on the views and perceptions of the wealthy individuals themselves. This qualitative study investigates the merits and disadvantages of a new wealth tax and seeks to identify any unintended consequences that could result from the implementation of a new wealth tax in South Africa, drawing from historical and international experience and primary data obtained from interviews with individuals likely to be affected by such a tax. Having explored the literature and international experiences with wealth tax and having probed the thinking of wealthy individuals who would be the payers of a wealth tax, the study finds that a new wealth tax may contribute towards the progressivity of the tax system, but it is doubtful whether such a tax would provide a sustainable revenue stream that would be sufficient to address economic inequality and there is a risk of causing harm to the economy. Recognising that the motivation for wealth taxes is often driven more by political argument and public perception than by rational quantitative analysis, the study also anticipates the introduction of a new wealth tax and suggests guidelines for the design of such a tax within the framework for evaluating a good tax system. This study informs the debate on wealth taxes in South Africa and contributes to the design of such a tax, should it be implemented.