Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State: Path Dependence and Policy Diffusion

ISBN-13: 9780521824521 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 278 str.

Junko Kato (University of Tokyo)

Opis

Political economists have viewed large public expenditures as a product of leftist government and the expression of a stronger representation of labor interest. The formation of governments' funding bases is a topic that has not been thoroughly explored, and this book sheds important new light on the issue of taxes and welfare. Beginning with a clarification of the development of postwar tax policies in industrial democracies, Junko Kato finds that the differentiation of tax revenue structure is path dependent upon the shift to regressive taxation. Kato challenges the conventional belief that progressive taxation leads to large public expenditures in mature welfare states.

Recenzje

"Overall, Kato provides a compelling mix of quantitative and qualitative data to equip the reader with some useful tools for considering what is at stake in the ongoing debate over the future of welfare state funding." Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare

Spis treści

Preface; 1. Argument: path dependency and the diffusion of a regressive tax; 2. European variation: Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France; 3. Contrasting paired comparisons in Oceania and North America; 4. Another pattern of path dependence: a comparison between Japan and the newly developing economies; 5. The political foundation of financing the welfare state: a comparative view; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.