Taxation and Economic Growth: Empirical evidence from Balkan countries

Fjolla HETEMI

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The transition process in the Balkans carried a significant amount of changes in the political, economic and institutional context. Fiscal reforms were one of the main changes which have been implemented during a short period of time, especially in the Western Balkan region. The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how direct and indirect taxes affect economic growth in selected Balkan countries for the years 2000-2016. In order to investigate the relationship between taxes and growth, I apply panel data estimation techniques by using secondary data obtained from a few sources. The results of this project suggest that individual income taxes do not have a significant effect on growth, while corporate income tax shows a positive and significant effect only when adding new control variables or addressing a potential endogeneity issue in the model. Additionally, taxes on property show a strong negative impact on growth. Most importantly, taxes on international trade are positively correlated with economic growth which indicates the fact that most of the governments in the Balkans are still dependent on revenues that are coming from trade-related taxes. Overall, these countries should reconsider the potential challenges that can come with trade liberalization and should try to focus more on managing taxes more efficiently, in order to positively affect economic growth in the future.

Abstract:

The transition process in the Balkans carried a significant amount of changes in the political, economic and institutional context. Fiscal reforms were one of the main changes which have been implemented during a short period of time, especially in the Western Balkan region. The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how direct and indirect taxes affect economic growth in selected Balkan countries for the years 2000-2016. In order to investigate the relationship between taxes and growth, I apply panel data estimation techniques by using secondary data obtained from a few sources. The results of this project suggest that individual income taxes do not have a significant effect on growth, while corporate income tax shows a positive and significant effect only when adding new control variables or addressing a potential endogeneity issue in the model. Additionally, taxes on property show a strong negative impact on growth. Most importantly, taxes on international trade are positively correlated with economic growth which indicates the fact that most of the governments in the Balkans are still dependent on revenues that are coming from trade-related taxes. Overall, these countries should reconsider the potential challenges that can come with trade liberalization and should try to focus more on managing taxes more efficiently, in order to positively affect economic growth in the future.

Keywords

Economic growth, Taxes, Panel data, Balkan countries

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 31. 5. 2019

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 25. 6. 2019
• Supervisor: Jean-Francois Brun

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Science

Master programme / field:
Geography / International Development Studies