Housing booms and busts and local fiscal policy
Solé Ollé, Albert (Institut d'Economia de Barcelona)
Viladecans Marsal, Elisabet (Institut d'Economia de Barcelona)
Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP)

Imprint:	Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP) 2017
Description:	61 p.
Abstract:	This paper examines how local governments adjust their spending, savings and taxes in response to a temporary revenue windfall generated by a housing boom and how they cope with the inevitable shortfall that appears during the bust. We focus on Spanish local governments given the intensity of the last housing boom-bust experienced there and the large share of construction-related revenues they obtain. We find, first, that just a small share of the boom windfall was saved, with revenues being used primarily to increase spending (above all, current spending) and (to a lesser extent) cut taxes. Second, we find that the failure to save during the boom is higher in places with less informed voters and more contested elections. Third, we also examine what happens during the bust, and find that these governments had to cut abruptly their spending (above all, capital), raise taxes, and allow deficits to grow. Finally, in places wit less informed voters and more contested elections local governments had more trouble in adjusting during the bust, and they tend to rely more on spending cuts than on tax increases.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Series:	Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP). Documents de treball de la Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP)
Series:	XREAP ; 2017/14
Document:	Working paper
Subject:	Bombolla immobiliària ; Política fiscal ; 1995-2011 ; Espanya ; Real estate bubble ; Fiscal policy ; Spain

61 p, 2.0 MB

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Research literature > Studies