Skip to main content

Dynamic Aspects of Taxation

DYNAMIC ASPECTS OF TAXATION

CEPR/Tilburg University Conference
Tilburg, 8/10 September 2000

Organizers: Thomas Renström (CentER, Tilburg University), Chairperson
Timothy Besley (London School of Economics and CEPR)
Lans A. Bovenberg (CentER, Tilburg University, and CEPR)
Albert Marcet (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, and CEPR)

General Background

The conference series Dynamic Aspects of Taxation and Public Expenditure consists of three meetings and intends to address the long- and short-run consequences of tax and public-expenditure policy. The meetings will bring together international experts as well as young scholars. The conferences will enhance research on the dynamic aspects of public economics, which are underrepresented in comparison to the static literature.
The first meeting, which took take place at Tilburg University 8-10 September 2000, focused on the issue of taxation, in particular taxation of capital versus labour income, inter- and intra-generational equity concern, and tax co-ordination.

Laura Marsiliani,
discussant on
Friday 8

Background to the First Meeting

From an economic policy perspective there is a clear need to investigate the dynamic aspects of public finance. There are conflicting proposals in the current policy debate. In the US the so called “flat-tax proposal,” according to which the progressivity in the tax system should be removed, and the capital tax abolished, has recently gained attention. The aim of the proposal is to stimulate growth and welfare. In Europe, however, there is a general fear that countries will compete over tax policy and set taxes too low. This has been seen as a threat to public finances and to employment. Therefore there have been calls for harmonisation of capital taxes, and in particular for a lower limit of capital taxation. These are at first sight conflicting proposals; therefore it is essential to have a good understanding of the welfare effects of capital taxes, and how they interact with the rest of the tax system, in order to make any policy recommendations. The proposals have to be evaluated using the latest research findings and methodology. It is essential to employ a dynamic perspective, which takes into account the long run and intergenerational consequences. These issues were the focus of the first meeting. The conference brought together researchers from both the Public-Finance field and the field of Dynamic Macroeconomics. The aim was to integrate the latest research contributions and to generate an agenda for future research.

Speakers included:

Steven P Cassou (Kansas State University)
Helmuth Cremer (IDEI, GREMAQ, Université de Toulouse, and CEPR)
David Domeij (Stockholm School of Economics)
Rachel Griffith (Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), and CEPR)
John Hassler (IIES, Stockholm University, and CEPR)
Christian Keuschnigg (Universität des Saarlandes, and CEPR)
Albert Marcet (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, and CEPR)
Lex Meijdam (CentER, Tilburg University)
Søren Bo Nielsen (Copenhagen Business School and CEPR)
Dirk F Niepelt (IIES, Stockholm University)
Vincenzo Quadrini (Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and CEPR)
Assaf Razin (Tel Aviv University and CEPR)
Michael Reiter (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
Thomas I Renström (CentER, Tilburg University)
Kent Smetters (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania)
Peter Birch Sørensen (University of Copenhagen)
Stephen J Turnovsky (University of Washington)
Vanghelis Vassilatos (University of Ioannina and IMOP)

For full programme and contact information of participants, visit the Conference Web Site.

Back to the Conference Series Indexpage.

Back to Thomas Renström’s Homepage.

Back to the Department’s home page.