Search results

AbstractThis paper analyses, in the context of the Environmental Kuznet Curve, the determinants of export intensity of hazardous industrial waste among Spanish regions, with particular attention to the influence of waste taxes and of environmental policies. This study is carried out for the first time in the literature with a spatial dynamic model, fixed effects and panel data for the 17 regions (Comunidades Autónomas) of Spain during the period 2007–2017. The results suggest there is a spatial-dynamic component to export intensity, and that both regional taxes on waste disposal and environmental policy stringency appear to encourage, albeit modestly, the rate of exported waste to other regions. The model also shows that the more regions recycle, and the greater the economies of scale arising from industrial agglomeration, the lower is the region's waste export intensity, although increasing restrictions on the international trade in hazardous waste have intensified trading inside the country. Finally, the results suggest a non-linear relationship between growth and export intensity, although apparently we are still far from the absolute decoupling of the Environmental Kuznet Curve.

In this paper we study the effectiveness of environmental taxes and policies of the regional level of government to reduce GHG emissions. We use panel data for the 17 Spanish regions in the period 1999-2017, controlling the spatial nexus between regions and using a dynamic Durbin model. The results show there is spatial dependence and spatio-temporal persistence of GHG emissions at the regional level in Spain, and that in this context, the taxes and policies intended to manage emissions introduce a slight disincentive to generating them. This fact, together with some relative decoupling which seems to exist between growth and emissions at the regional level, would suggest the need for tougher measures to combat environmental pollution in order to meet EU commitments.

This work examines in depth the hypotheses explaining the tax capacity of regional governments, also determining their tax effort and explanatory factors. The study is done for the Spanish regions, using different techniques which have rarely been applied in this area. The results show that these jurisdictions have exercised their tax autonomy responsibly, in response to different budget and demographic factors and to the economic cycle. Also, an asymmetrical tax behaviour linked to income is observed: some regions have practically exhausted the possibilities of current sub-central taxes, while others still have ample fiscal space.

This work examines in depth the hypotheses explaining the tax capacity of regional governments, also determining their tax effort and explanatory factors. The study is done for the Spanish regions, using different techniques which have rarely been applied in this area. The results show that these jurisdictions have exercised their tax autonomy responsibly, in response to different political, budget, and demographic factors and to the economic cycle. Also, an asymmetrical tax behaviour linked to income is observed: some regions have practically exhausted the possibilities of current sub-central taxes, while others still have ample fiscal space.

The authors quantify the fungibility effect or diversion of resources towards purposes other than investment, by regions receiving conditional capital transfers. To identify this behaviour, they have taken different empirical approaches with frontier techniques that let them quantify whether the regions are investing the maximum available funds, given certain environmental factors. The results show that Spanish regions divert hardly any of their potential investments, and that the most prosperous regions are the ones that let the most resources leak into other uses, especially in economic boom periods. In contrast, in some poor regions the authors can identify the opposite phenomenon, in which resources are dragged along towards investment (bandwagon effect). They identified several factors explaining the fungibility effect: political aspects, poor management or planning associated with the accumulated debt, the political cost of tax collection, and other variables such as the level of economic development, population density, and the economic cycle.

There is a broad theoretical consensus on the effects of transfers (desired incentive impacts and induced adverse effects). But, as the literature review shows, there is not an accepted methodology for the empirical evaluation of these effects. The authors suggest a simple but rigorous empirical approach to quantify the catalytic effect of conditioned transfers for investment and their asymmetric impact across regions in Spain. To identify this behaviour, they have applied different empirical approaches with frontier techniques that let them consider the frontier as a proxy for potential investment. The results show that the conditioned transfers received by the regions from higher levels of government have a stimulus effect for investments, especially in the poor regions. The authors identify several factors explaining this unbalanced catalytic effect: the political cost of tax collection, political factors, inadequate management of debt, and other variables such as the level of economic development, population density, and the economic cycle.

La actual crisis financiera y las convulsiones presupuestarias que están sufriendo los gobiernos locales han hecho que nos preguntemos por el margen de maniobra del que disponen dichas jurisdicciones para incrementar su recaudación y así poder lograr los objetivos tan exigentes de estabilidad presupuestaria en los que se encuentra inmersa España. Para dar respuesta a dicha cuestión, hemos recurrido al cálculo de la frontera estocástica de la capacidad fiscal potencial de los municipios, y hemos construido a partir de ella índices de esfuerzo fiscal comparando las recaudaciones reales con la potencial así estimada. Nuestro trabajo es así uno de los primeros en utilizar esta metodología para la determinación del esfuerzo fiscal, y constituye la primera aplicación para el caso de municipios españoles, concretamente aragoneses. La evidencia empírica alcanzada para el caso español permite señalar que existe un amplio margen de maniobra para incrementar la recaudación, aconseja minimizar los riesgos vinculados con la discrecionalidad que presentan algunas figuras tributarias y alerta del excesivo uso que se ha realizado de la tributación asociada al sector de la construcción durante el boom inmobiliario.

Con la Ley de Aguas del 2001, la competencia sobre depuración de aguas residuales, que venían desempeñando los municipios a través del cobro de tasas, se ha encomendado a las Comunidades Autónomas, quienes deben implantar para su gestión un Canon de Saneamiento. Para determinar si este Canon racionaliza el consumo de agua, en este trabajo se estima la demanda industrial de agua en Aragón, utilizando para ello un modelo logarítmico con datos de panel en el que la variable explicativa clave ha sido el Canon del Saneamiento, además de la tasa por el suministro de agua pagada por las industrias en los diferentes municipios aragoneses, y otras variables que captan las características particulares de las empresas de la muestra y que están relacionadas con el consumo de agua. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la reducción del consumo industrial de agua parece debida a la tributación ambiental, más que a un incremento en el coste del agua para las empresas. ; The Spanish Water Act, 2001 shifted responsibility for wastewater treatment from municipal to regional government, and as a consequence the Autonomous Communities have begun to levy a Sanitation Charge, apparently with environmental objectives. Industrial demand for water in Aragon is estimated in this paper using a double logarithmic model with panel data to establish whether regional Sanitation Charges rationalise water onsumption. The key explanatory variable is the Sanitation Charge, in addition to the water supply charges payable in the towns and cities of Aragon and other variables which capture the characteristics of the firms in the sample. The reduction in water demand achieved appears to be due to the environmental charge rather than to any actual increase in firms' water costs.

A certain rough consensus holds that highland municipalities have higher spending needs than others, because of the particularly adverse conditions in which they provide essential public services. However, there is no empirical evidence to support this assertion. This study examines whether any relevant differences actually exist in the spending policies of highland and lowland municipalities. To this end, we make logarithmic estimations of per capita municipal spending in order to determine whether the indicators selected, which are based on local government powers, adequately reflect spending needs. Our results point to the special circumstances of highland districts as a key explanatory factor for higher municipal spending, along with demographic factors, locational population patterns, economic activity, subsidies, and local fiscal capacity.

In this article, we estimate the impact of the Spanish personal income tax, and other variables, on the decision to marry, with the study covering the period 1979 to 2001. There are three aspects that characterize this article: first, it is the first time this topic has been examined in Spain; second, we take into account the whole duration of the marriage when constructing the tax variables, not only the year of marriage; and third, we include the cost of housing among the explanatory variables, because this can play an important and statistically significant role in the marriage decision in Spain.