Patriotism, taxation and international mobility

Qari, Salmai; Konrad, Kai A. and Geys, Benny (2009): Patriotism, taxation and international mobility. WZB Discussion Paper, SP II 2009-03

Abstract

For patriotic citizens, living in their native country is intrinsically preferable compared to living in the diaspora. In this paper, we analyze the implications of such a patriotic lock-in in a world with international migration and redistributive taxation. In a formal model of redistribution with international migration and fiscal competition we derive the main hypothesis: that countries with a more patriotic population should have higher redistributive taxes. Using ISSP survey data and combining them with OECD taxation data, we find robust evidence suggesting that a) higher patriotism is associated with higher tax burdens, and b) this relation is stronger for the upper-middle range of the income distribution.

• Item Type: Paper
• Keywords: Patriotism; international mobility; Taxation; Redistribution; fiscal competition
• Faculties: Economics > Chairs > MPI for Tax Law and Public Finance
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: H20, H73
• Place of Publication: Berlin
• Language: English