11:00 - 13:15
Friday-Panel
Chair/s:
Rosalind Shorrocks
Discussant/s:
Nils Steiner
Meeting Room D

Maria Grasso, Rosalind Shorrocks
Gender Gaps in Preferences for Social Spending and Redistribution: A Comparative Analysis of Welfare Systems

Daiki Kishishita, Atsushi Yamagishi, Tomoko Matsumoto
Self-Perceptions of Income-Ability Gap and Preferences for Redistribution

Maurice Dunaiski, Janne Tukiainen
Does income transparency affect support for redistribution? Evidence from Finland’s Tax Day

André Walter
Does Tax Competition Undermine Support for Redistribution?
Does Tax Competition Undermine Support for Redistribution?
André Walter
University of St. Gallen

A large body of research has focused on the nexus of globalization and the welfare state, arguing that tax competition forces policy makers to engage in largescale reforms to reduce public spending. While some scholars have argued that retrenchment is widely unpopular, recent contributions have suggested that voters support such policies under specific circumstances. I add to this literature by arguing that voters are, similar to elected officials, aware of constrains that tax competition imposes on domestic policy making and reduce support policies with progressive and expansionary character accordingly. Using geo-coded panel data and local-level tax rates from Switzerland, I demonstrate that increasing tax competition reduces support for progressive taxation and social spending. In addition, I show that the response to tax competition is not heterogeneous across ideological leanings, income, or adverse labor market experiences.