The tax-welfare mix: explaining Japan's weak extractive capacity

Abstract

Despite having the highest level of public debt in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), higher than Greece or Italy, Japan has one of the lowest aggregate tax burdens of the advanced industrial democracies. This paper asks why Japan, once described as a strong developmental state, has had such a weak extractive capacity, an inability to raise revenues to confront deficits and public debt? In contrast to the existing explanations that focus on political institutions, partisan preferences, or economic globalization, this article argues that Japan's ‘tax–welfare mix’ – the combination of taxes and redistributive welfare polices – undermined the state's long-term capacity to secure adequate tax revenue. More than just a source of revenue, taxes can be used directly to achieve redistributive goals, such as targeting low taxes and exemptions to specific groups. This study shows how Japan's tax–welfare mix diminished its extractive capacity through three mechanisms: the political lock-in of a redistributive social bargain struck around low taxes, the timing and sequencing of its tax policy and welfare development, and the erosion of public trust, which undermined tax consent. Beyond offering a new theory of extractive capacity, the tax–welfare mix explains aspects of Japan's tax structure that defy existing explanations and contributes to our understanding of the capitalist development state by highlighting the redistributive political function of tax policy and its long-term impact on state capacity.     

Cooperating Estonians and “exiting” Lithuanians: trust in times of crisis

This article argues that substantial differences in political legitimacy can help explain why Estonia dealt with the recent economic crisis more successfully than Lithuania. In 2009, when the crisis hit hardest, Lithuania saw its budget deficit expand substantially, while Estonia managed to keep the deficit under 3% of GDP and consequently was invited to join the Eurozone, to which it acceded in 2011. The experience of these countries presents an interesting puzzle, as the divergent fiscal performance cannot be attributed to purely economic factors. Both countries have a similar economic structure, and both were similarly affected by the crisis. Furthermore, both pursued similar expenditure and tax policies during the crisis. Based on quantitative and qualitative evidence, it is argued that higher tax compliance and subsequently higher tax revenues can explain the difference. In turn, this compliance gap can be attributed to different levels of trust in political institutions in Estonia and Lithuania.     

论江南"折租造布"的中央化历程——读《隋唐制度渊源略论稿》财政篇

陈寅恪先生是以江南折租造布为例,来论证唐代的江南(南朝)化说的。根据武则天时期的陈子昂上疏以及仪凤三年度支奏抄、四年金部旨符,唐代江淮地区仍在实行以前南朝的折租纳布制度。开元二十五年之前,该区上供的租米通常是用租布(可能也包括钱)在东都附近籴纳来的。但随着江淮地区上供地位的提高及边境和籴事业的开展,中央政府也出现了直接受纳租布的迹象。唐玄宗时期,商品经济进一步发展,官府的和籴规模、区域事业不断扩大,中央对充任货币职能的布帛需求量也在加大。开元二十五年,政府在京辅一带广行和籴,最终以法令的形式确认了江南的折租造布制度。     

专款专用税:税法学视角下用税监督权的建构进路

随着宪政经济学的发展,用税监督的"规则之治"再度引起法学界的关注。然而,对税法学的用税监督权的法理考察仍暂付阙如。针对具有私人物品特性的公共产品和服务供给而征收的"专款专用税"反映了直接的成本和收益关系,使纳税人或其代表能够比较每一项活动而不是包含着多种成分预算的成本和收益,从而在政府和纳税人之间形成更为明确的税收契约关系,充分体现协调预期和传递信号的功能,以更有效地稳定纳税人对其所缴纳税款的预期;在政府违约使用税款的时侯,纳税人可以根据违约追责机制,通过司法手段行使其用税监督权,更好地监督政府对相应税款的使用。     

试论偷税罪“数额加比例”的成罪标准——源自税收征管实践的思考

偷税罪作为一种最普遍、最典型的税收犯罪,一直是我国刑事立法规制的重心之一。如何进行偷税罪的立法完善是学者们经久不衰的谈论话题,其中偷税罪“数额加比例”的成罪标准更是争论的焦点。取消偷税罪双重标准中的比例标准,从而降低偷税罪认定过程中的操作难度,对打击偷税犯罪可以产生积极的效果。     

征收和征税的关系规则及其适用:美国法上的情形

美国法律界力图理清征收和征税的关系。征收和征税的理论基础是一致的,都是为了公共目的而剥夺公民财产。征税针对多数人,而征收针对具体的少数人;征收导致公民承受不合比例的负担,而征税不是;征收针对可分离的财产,而征税针对总量财产。美国联邦最高法院非常谨慎地将征收规范适用于征税。     

关于我国开征社会保障税的分析

我国社会保障制度存在着诸如覆盖面小、征收力度不够、基金管理制度不健全、政策不统一等问题,难以保证筹集社会保障收入的需要。文章对开征社会保障税进行分析,认为开征社会保障税,完善社会保障筹资方式,应成为当前我国社会保障制度改革与完善的突破口。     

The ‘make or buy’ decision in private environmental transactions

A theoretical framework combining the two branches of TCE, i.e., the governance branch (Williamson 2005) and the measurement branch (Barzel 2005) may explain the choice of the governance structure for private environmental transactions. Four case studies, i.e., the market for pure air in polluted cities, the contractual arrangement between La Esperanza and the Monteverde Conservation League, the case of the French mineral water bottler Vittel and the case of land ownership by land trusts are briefly developed in order to support the theoretical framework. Special attention is devoted to the presence (or not) of a 3-D (defined, defended and divestible) property rights system in interaction with the juridical system (civil law vs. common law) and its influence on the way environmental property rights are likely (or not) to be re-arranged. Lessons and policy implications are drawn in order to foster research on these challenging issues.

Generational replacement and Green party support in Western Europe

Over the past decades, electoral support for Green parties has gradually increased in Western Europe, especially among young people. This begs the question whether there are systematic differences between generations in support for Green parties, and whether there are also life-cycle effects. We answer this question by separating age, period and cohort effects on Green party support using CSES data covering 40 elections in 11 Western European countries. We find that when controlling for period and age, each new generation is more supportive of the Greens than the generation before. We also find negative age effects. While Green parties can expect to benefit in the future from generational replacement, the consequences of aging societies are to their disadvantage.     

我国环境行政诉讼原告资格刍议

我国目前的环境行政诉讼制度及实践存在许多问题,原告资格狭窄是其中一个非常重要的原因。这一原因导致了环境行政起诉权严重受到限制,缩小了对环境行政行为的司法审查范围。完善之法是从对传统行政诉讼理论和制度的修正及我国国情出发,逐步放宽对环境行政诉讼原告资格和起诉权的限制。