Political Economy Research Seminar
Are U.S. State Tax Policies Increasingly Polarized?
Alisa Tazhitda (UCSB), joint with Sarah Robinson (Claremont McKenna College)
Tuesday 01 October 2024 14:00 - 15:30
Many of our seminars and public events this year will continue as in person or as hybrid (online and in person) events. Please check our website listings and Twitter feed @STICERD_LSE for updates.
Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public. Please ensure you have informed the event contact as early as possible.
Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.
About this event
Using data on U.S. state tax policies from 1910 to 2022, we study to what extent political polarization permeates U.S. state tax policies. Our comprehensive analysis considers a variety of tax measures and definitions of "Democratic" vs. "Republican" states. We document a small increase in tax policy polarization in recent decades, particularly for personal and corporate income, as well as cigarette taxes, and among states with stable political regimes. However, we find that current levels of polarization are not unique relative to the past. Furthermore, the timing of polarization varies widely across tax policies, and is not consistent with measures of increasing political polarization from the literature.
The Political Economy Research Seminar is jointly organised by the Departments of Economics, of Government, and of Management, with financial support from STICERD.
It brings together scholars across multiple departments at the LSE and from nearby universities. The series consists of talks by external and internal faculty presenting theoretical or empirical papers on a wide range of topics associated with political economy.
These seminars are held on Tuesdays in term time at 14.00-15.30, in room MAR 6.33, unless specified otherwise.
Seminar coordinators: Timothy Besley (Economics), Tak-Huen Chau (Government), Stephane Wolton (Government), Noam Yuchtman (Management)
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