Suchergebnisse

I explore empirically a central claim of the structural dependence thesis, namely, that capitalists' ability to disinvest fundamentally conditions policy choices in democratic capitalist systems. Utilizing time-series data for 16 affluent democracies from 1965 to 1984, I find that, indeed, low rates of business investment are associated with reductions in corporate tax burdens and that these reductions are more pronounced in periods of economic crisis. Moreover, low rates of capital formation engender cuts in personal income taxes during periods of economic stress. However, I also find that the magnitude of responsiveness of taxation to low rates of investment is relatively small and that analyses of the political context of investment and taxation indicate that governments have choices. The responsiveness of corporate tax burdens to capital formation may, under some governments, be part of a policy mix designed to maintain adequate investment and to address the demands of core constituencies.

DESPITE THE LARGE NUMBER OF STUDIES OF THE DETERMINATION OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE IN THE AFFLUENT DEMOCRACIES, MOST STUDENTS OF THE SUBJECT ADMIT THAT WE KNOW RELATIVELY LITTLE ABOUT THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF SPENDING CHANGE. USING MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSES OF CHANGES IN NONMILITARY OUTLAYS OVER THE YEARS 1960 TO 1973 TO 1980, THIS STUDY ATTEMPTS TO REMEDY SOME OF THE PROBLEMS IN THE LITERATURE BY PROVIDING NEW TESTS OF SEVERAL OLD HYPOTHESES, BY INTRODUCING AND TESTING SEVERAL RELATIVELY NEW HYPOTHESES, AND BY EVALUATING SUCH PROPOSITIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN INTEGRATED THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND OF ANALYSES THAT SPAN TWO DISTINCT POLITICAL-ECONOMIC ERAS. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE DYNAMICS OF DOMESTIC EXPENDITURE CHANGE ARE PARTIALLY CONDITIONED BY MACROECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS OF PARTICULAR ERAS. OVERALL, THE SELF-INTERESTS AND IDEOLOGICAL PREFERENCES OF POLICYMAKERS, THE INSTITUTIONAL AND EXTRAINSTITUTIONAL POLITICAL ACTION OF POLICY-RELEVANT GROUPS, AND NEEDS FOR STATE ASSISTANCE EMERGE AS PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF CHANGES IN DOMESTIC EXPENDITURE.