State Taxes and Spatial Misallocation

Pablo Fajgelbaum (), Eduardo Morales, Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato and Owen Zidar

No 21760, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study state taxes as a potential source of spatial misallocation in the United States. We build a spatial general equilibrium framework that incorporates salient features of the U.S. state tax system, and use changes in state tax rates between 1980 and 2010 to estimate the model parameters that determine how worker and firm location respond to changes in state taxes. We find that heterogeneity in state tax rates leads to aggregate welfare losses. In terms of consumption equivalent units, harmonizing state taxes increases worker welfare by 0.6 percent if government spending is held constant, and by 1.2 percent if government spending responds endogenously. Harmonization of state taxes within Census regions achieves most of these gains. We also use our model to study the general equilibrium effects of recently implemented and proposed tax reforms.

JEL-codes: E6 F12 H71 R13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-mac, nep-pbe, nep-pub and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

Published as Pablo D Fajgelbaum & Eduardo Morales & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2019. "State Taxes and Spatial Misallocation," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 86(1), pages 333-376.

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Journal Article: State Taxes and Spatial Misallocation (2019)
Working Paper: State Taxes and Spatial Misallocation (2015)
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