The Spread of the Flat Tax in Eastern Europe: A Comparative Study

This paper is an exploratory comparative analysis of the spread of the flat tax in postcommunist Eastern Europe. The paper reviews the flat tax as a public policy prescription, discusses the various arguments that underpin its potential reception, introduces and applies a synthetic comparative method to study its spread in eleven East European countries, draws several conclusions regarding the conditions associated with implementing flat taxes, and suggests further research directions.

[1]  Frederic L. Pryor.  Capitalism and freedom , 2010 .

[2]  Lawrence J. Dickson.  Flat is Beautiful , 2004, PDPTA.

[3]  G. Becker,et al.  A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence , 1983 .

[4]  M. Keen,et al.  The 'Flat Tax(Es)': Principles and Evidence , 2006, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[5]  R. Hall,et al.  The Flat Tax , 1985 .

[6]  A. Evans.  Constitutional moments in Eastern Europe and subjectivist political economy , 2009 .

[7]  P. Hall.  The Political Power of Economic Ideas: Keynesianism across Nations , 1989 .

[8]  Thought experiments, counterfactuals and comparative analysis , 2009 .

[9]  Shelley C. Rhoades‐Catanach,et al.  Democratic Choice and Taxation: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. , 2002 .

[10]  G. Ventura.  Flat Tax Reform: A Quantitative Exploration , 1999 .

[11]  S. Leclair.  “History is the present” , 2006, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science.

[12]  F. Schneider.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHADOW ECONOMIES AND SHADOW LABOR FORCE OF 22 TRANSITION AND 21 OECD COUNTRIES , 2003 .

[13]  T. L. Schwartz.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1986 .

[14]  J. Kay.  The British tax system , 1978 .

[15]  Robert O. Keohane,et al.  Ideas and Foreign Policy Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change , 1994 .

[16]  F. Hayek,et al.  The Constitution of Liberty , 1962 .

[17]  Ideas, interests, and American trade policy , 1993 .

[18]  B. Ackerman.  The Future of Liberal Revolution , 1992 .

[19]  Arnold C. Harberger.  Secrets of success: A handful of heroes , 1993 .

[20]  John L. Campbell.  Institutional analysis and the role of ideas in political economy , 1998 .

[21]  M. Olson,et al.  The Logic of Collective Action , 1965 .

[22]  Jeffrey W. Legro.  The Transformation of Policy Ideas , 2000 .

[23]  Nancy L. Stokey,et al.  Growth Effects of Flat-Rate Taxes , 1993, Journal of Political Economy.