With the decline of the liberal order and the turn toward trade protectionism under the current US administration, tax policy has moved to the core of global political debates. This Workshop brings together researchers working on the politics of taxation. This includes studies on domestic tax policies, international taxation, and studies focusing on the micro-foundation of taxation; that is, tax preferences, attitudes and behaviour. We invite proposals which analyse taxation in advanced economies and in Global South countries to better understand the politics of taxation from a distributive perspective, and to take stock of current challenges for fiscal solidarity.
Taxation has been the focal topic of economist for centuries. Yet, as states and markets are highly entrenched, we need to understand taxation not only from an efficiency perspective but also under the lens of its distributive consequences, moving the analysis of the politics of taxation to the core for political economists and political scientists. Tax revenue is vital for public goods provision and a defining element of democratic representation. But different types of tax instruments can create inequality and lead to distributive conflict, regime change or destroy fiscal solidarity.
Countries in the Global South struggle with a narrow tax base and an extensive informal sector, whereas advanced economies face political contestation over fiscal austerity, green taxes, gender taxation and the viability of embedded liberalism. This Workshop brings together new evidence on the politics of taxation, taking stock of well-functioning tax instruments and discussing possibilities to improve fiscal solidarity and the social contract from a political science perspective. Starting with the micro-foundation and building upon the rich literature from behavioural economics, which factors increase tax compliance beyond deterrence and monetary incentives? What improves the social fiscal contract, especially in the Global South? From a historical and macro-comparative perspective, what explains the evolution of the modern tax state and why some tax systems are more progressive than others? From the perspective of domestic policymaking, what are the key determinants of tax reforms and new tax instruments such as green taxes? And finally, what are the distributive implications of new tax instruments?
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1: Why do people pay taxes beyond deterrence?
2: Which factors improve fiscal solidarity and foster the social fiscal contract?
3: What explains the development of the modern tax state and why some tax systems are more progressive than others?
4: What are the key determinants of tax reforms and the introduction of new tax instruments?
5: What are the distributive implications of new tax instruments (e.g. green taxes, gender taxes, etc.)?
1: Individual preferences and attitudes toward taxation
2: Tax compliance, tax morale and the social fiscal contract (fiscal solidarity)
3: International taxation (competition, tariffs, trade liberalisation/protectionism)
4: Domestic tax politics in advanced democracies (green tax, gender taxation, party competition)
5: Historical tax developments (colonialism, tax haven developments)
6: Taxation in low- and middle-income countries (capacity building, new instruments)
7: Distributive effects of tax instruments
