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Introduction
There has been considerable discussion in recent weeks in Scotland concerning the drivers of economic growth, and in particular the role and importance of greater fiscal autonomy (FA) as a means to achieving a higher growth rate. This briefing note, as a contribution to the debate, covers the following: A brief overview of what economists generally believe are the key drivers of growth for a small, open economy like Scotland, so allowing us to place the debate on FA within this wider context; A consideration of the evidence from a review of the literature on whether FA actually results in greater growth. Here we try to give as balanced a picture as possible and end up by concluding that at best the jury is out on this issue, and at worst the evidence suggests no clear, precise relationship; If the view is that that FA does deliver economic growth, we ask what is the likely transmission mechanism that links greater FA to growth, and will the economy be positively affected - not only in the longer term (i.e., after 5 years) but in the immediate and short term too? Since, as discussed below, the transmission mechanism is usually not presented we believe it is incumbent upon the proponents of FA to produce the necessary evidence; Lastly, we pose certain questions of those who favour the new fiscal arrangements as set out in the recently published Scotland Bill. For example, will the benefits of introducing the Scotland Bill outweigh any (possibly) considerable short term set up costs? We argue that proponents of this approach should also be expected to produce more detailed evidence for scrutiny.
1. Drivers of Growth
The drivers of economic growth in a small open economy such as Scotland are usually concerned with the long-run determinants of increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and these almost always centre on the factors that determine productivity growth. Productivity (and especially the productivity of both labour and capital inputs into the production process, i.e. total factor productivity, or TFP) is widely recognised as a key driver of long-run economic growth. As the eminent U.S. economist Paul Krugman (1997) noted Productivity isnt everything, but in the long run it is almost everything; while William Baumol similarly states that without exaggeration in the long run probably nothing is as important for economic welfare as the rate of productivity growth (Baumol, 1984). Large-scale country and industry studies tend to confirm the importance of TFP and its dominance in terms of explaining differences in output growth across different 1
economies
(e.g.,
Figure
1.2,
OECD,
2003;
Figure
6.3,
BERR,
2008;
Figure
10,
Mourre,
2009;
Table
2,
OMahony
and
Timmer,
2009).
So
what
factors
determine
higher
levels
of
productivity?
The
standard
list
would
include:
innovation
and
R&D,
skills,
entrepreneurship,
and
increases
in
efficiency
(e.g.
technology
transfer
allowing
catch-up
to
occur,
increases
in
the
quality
of
labour
and
capital
used
in
production
including
greater
use
of
ICT
capital,
and
better
management
techniques).
Indeed
the
Scottish
Governments
Economic
Strategy
(2007)
lists
productivity
(as
well
as
more
employment,
population
growth,
and
a
fairer
distribution
of
resources)
as
the
key
challenges
faced,
with
such
factors
as
learning
and
skills;
a
supportive
business
environment
(which
means
fostering
more
firm
involvement
in
international
markets,
more
development
of
innovation,
increasing
R&D,
and
a
competitive
tax
regime1);
infrastructure
development;
and
effective
government,
all
being
areas
for
policy
to
enhance
economic
growth.2
The
central
role
of
productivity
as
the
single
most
important
factor
determining
long-run
economic
growth
(and
the
policies
needed
to
foster
higher
productivity)
recognises
the
importance
and
role
of
knowledge-assets
in
determining
competitiveness,
productivity,
and
ultimately
output
growth.
The
use
of
such
intangible
assets
(which
can
be
defined
as
knowledge
embodied
in
intellectual
assets,
such
as
R&D
and
proprietary
know-how,
intellectual
property,
workforce
skills,
world-class
supply
networks
and
brands)
is
recognised
by
academics
from
various
fields,
policy-makers,
and
businesses
themselves
as
a
key
(some
say
the
key)
driver
of
enterprise
performance
and
thus
ultimately
aggregate
productivity
and
growth.
There
are
of
course
other
factors
that
impact
on
economic
growth,
beyond
the
microeconomic
determinants
of
productivity
already
discussed.
The
macro-economy
(through
the
overall
short- run
aggregate
demand
for
goods
and
services)
will
also
have
an
important
impact,
particularly
on
short-run
growth
prospects.3
Partly
this
depends
on
how
recession
impacts
on
demand
in
the
private
sector
of
the
economy
and
partly
how
governments
react
to
downturns
in
the
business
cycle.
In
the
usual
boom-and-bust
scenario,
governments
tend
to
tighten
their
fiscal
stance
to
stop
the
economy
over-heating,
while
they
spend
relatively
more
in
recession
to
underpin
the
more
fragile
demand
in
the
private
sector
of
the
economy.
The
fiscal
position
Scotland
has
faced
in
the
last
ten
years
reflects
a
period
of
relative
boom
in
both
private
and
public
sectors
(until
2008),
followed
by
recession,
and
now
fiscal
retrenchment
to
deal
with
too
high
a
level
of
public
spending
vis--vis
tax
revenues,
which
have
contributed
to
an
unsustainable
build-up
in
public
sector
indebtedness.
So
while
the
first
decade
of
devolution
saw
an
average
real
terms
annual
increase
in
the
Scottish
Governments
budget
of
over
5%,
the
second
decade
is
likely
to
see
an
average
negative
real
terms
annual
growth.
The
Office
of
the
Chief
Economic
Adviser
expects
real
terms
cuts
for
6
years
after
2009-10
and
does
not
expect
Scottish
The 2007 Strategy also makes the point that greater autonomy over policy is necessary to achieve a step-change in Scotlands growth path, and in particular it is stated: devolution of responsibility for economic and fiscal policy would allow a Scottish Government to tailor a tax environment suited to attracting investment to Scotland and funding public services appropriate to the needs of the Scottish people. We pick up this point later when discussing FA and transmission mechanisms. 2 Note, these themes are not very different to the approach of previous Scottish administrations; e.g., the Smart, Successful Scotland (SSS) document (2004) also recognised that the key factors contributing to economic growth are: entrepreneurial dynamism, R&D and innovation; education and skills; infrastructure; and efficient management of public sector resources. SSS stated that its key objectives were to grow businesses (through more innovation and R&D); develop skills to boost human capital; and to foster global connections (both more Scottish firms involved in international markets and through inward investment from overseas companies FDI). 3 Short-run because macroeconomic factors are usually geared to the business cycle, although the current fiscal imbalance faced by many governments belonging to the OECD is likely to lead to a longer period of tight fiscal policy (until or unless economic growth picks up strongly enough to boost tax revenues sufficiently to cover the currently unsustainable level of government spending).
1
Government DEL expenditure to regain its 2009-10 real terms level until 2025-26.4 Clearly this reduction in government consumption will impact significantly on overall demand, especially relative to the positive contribution such government consumption made to overall demand in the first decade of devolution. Furthermore, this fall in Scottish Government demand will be reinforced by declines in demand at the UK Government level. There are other perceived drivers of economic growth in the Scottish debate. For instance, there has been some debate over whether smaller countries have greater potential to grow faster than larger countries, largely based on their smallness making them (i) more nimble and so able to react faster to changes in economic conditions, and (ii) having a greater understanding of the needs of the economy by being closer to it. We are not aware of any evidence that supports such a claim, nor for that matter the other way round. It does not appear to be a subject that is particularly well researched. Some commentators claim that smaller governments, achieved through lower taxes, lead to faster economic growth. The OECD give some credibility to this argument,5 although they carefully differentiate between types of government spending that are considered conducive to growth and those (e.g. high levels of direct taxation on wages and profits) that discourage growth. The practical evidence that size of government impacts on growth is more difficult to find. Looking at the record of high vs. low tax economies: For the three leading low tax economies (the USA, Japan and Switzerland) post-1970 the first has a fairly average record of growth, the second did well pre-1990, but badly thereafter, and the third has a consistently poor growth record. By contrast, the record of three of the leading high tax economies (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) is more average, not spectacular but neither suffering the very poor rates seen in Japan of late or in Switzerland. So in conclusion, the traditional drivers of economic growth tend to concentrate on microeconomic factors (such as innovation, R&D, entrepreneurship, and knowledge-based assets in general) as the key determinants of productivity, and thus ultimately long-run prospects. To a large extent, the policy levers available in this area have been within the control of the devolved Scottish Government since 2000. And yet, there has been little debate on where and how Scotland should improve such microeconomic policies i.e., does Scotland have distinctive and effective policies to increase (firm-level) productivity. Instead, the current debate centres on the role and importance of FA and its impact on growth, and it is to this that we now turn before providing some commentary on whether we think FA should be an addition to the list of most important factors likely to impact on long-run productivity and the growth of the Scottish economy.
Outlook for Scottish Government Expenditure, June 2010 Emergency Budget Update, July 2010, Scottish Government, see Chart 13. 5 The Sources of Economic Growth in the OECD countries, 2003, OECD.
Feld (op. cit.) finds in general no (or negative) effects and so tends to dismiss the general relevance of the results due to the particular institutional arrangements in place. (Furthermore, the accuracy of Chinese GDP statistics is questionable and they have been subject in the past to very large revisions.) There is one other, allegedly supportive, single country study from Feld used by HHS (based on the USA), although this covers only a 4 year period (1992-1996) and in a later paper the same authors (Akai et. al., 2009) conclude that the empirical studies regarding whether there is a positive or negative relationship between economic growth and fiscal decentralisation are still controversial. Much of the work in this area points to definitional difficulties over decentralisation as well as the importance of institutional arrangements in complicating interpretation of results. Thornton (2007) attempts to distinguish between administrative and substantial decentralisation and finds that when the measure of revenue decentralisation is limited to the revenues over which sub- national governments have full autonomy, its impact on economic growth in OECD economies has not been statistically significant.9 A further, post HHS published, paper by Rodriguez-Pose & Ezcurra (2010) on this subject found a negative and significant association between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth. It also found that administrative decentralisation tended to display a negative connection to economic growth, although this finding was less robust and was sensitive to the definition and measurement of such decentralisation. The work of the Calman Commission and of its Independent Expert Group also rejected any simple connection between greater fiscal decentralisation and higher growth. Like Feld, Calman therefore relies on other benefits e.g., in terms of increased political accountability to make the case for greater fiscal decentralisation. The question of what degree of fiscal decentralisation maximises any such alternative benefits, and how they are measured, is not one where we are able to find much evidence or consensus. Note, the issue of the link between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth has also been covered in great depth by Hallwood and MacDonald. In their most recent writings on this subject (2009) the authors concluded that the fact that empirical evidence produced such a mixed outcome (on the fiscal devolution economic growth link)10 is perhaps to be expected given the rather rudimentary statistical and econometric techniques used and that until the econometric and measurement issues are appropriately addressed, we are unlikely to be able to pin down the true relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth, especially concerning the devolution of increased tax powers. It is perhaps due to the tentative research findings on this topic, which are neither consistent nor robust, that there is a lack of any wider international or official recognition that any such relationship exists. For example, promoting greater fiscal decentralisation is not accepted practice in international circles (e.g., for the International Monetary Fund or the European Central Bank) as a way of increasing the growth rate. Overall, and returning to the question posed at the end of Section 1, the most important finding to take away from this trawl of the literature is that there is no simple and robust relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth. In addition, any such relationship is likely to be obscured by two important difficulties: first, that definitional and data problems are currently significant; and second, that any such impacts may well be dominated by other economic and policy factors and so the precise impact of fiscal decentralisation will be very difficult to discern.
10
Note, in their Policy Forum paper HHS imply that Thornton came to the opposite finding. Words in parenthesis have been added by us.
A
final
point:
while
much
of
the
debate
in
Scotland
has
been
over
the
impact
of
greater
revenue
powers
to
Scotland
as
a
form
of
greater
fiscal
decentralisation,
the
academic
work
in
this
area
covers
decentralisation
of
both
expenditure
and
revenue
powers.
Indeed
much
of
the
strongest
evidence
for
a
potentially
positive
relationship
between
FA
and
economic
growth
stems
from
greater
decentralisation
of
expenditure
as
opposed
to
revenue
powers
(something
Scotland
already
has).
In
this
paper
we
have
not
gone
through
the
evidence
separately
for
expenditure
and
revenue
decentralisation,
although
more
work
in
this
area
may
be
appropriate
given
Scotlands
existing
high
degree
of
expenditure
autonomy
versus
its
low
degree
of
revenue
raising
autonomy.
However,
our
understanding
of
the
literature
is
that,
in
general,
neither
form
exhibits
a
robust
relationship
in
terms
of
its
impact
on
economic
growth.
3.
Mechanisms
of
Transmission
There
are
a
variety
of
possible
transmission
mechanisms
that
link
FA
to
growth.
In
terms
of
a
positive
relationship,
the
most
commonly
referenced11
mechanisms
are:
informational
advantages
arising
from
more
local
government,
i.e.
a
better
understanding
of
the
needs
of
local
citizens
for
public
goods
and
services;
greater
production
efficiency
triggered
by
greater
competition
among
devolved
governments
and
the
policy
innovation
that
this
engenders;
benefits
when
diseconomies
of
scale
exist;
increased
participation,
transparency
and
accountability
in
policy
making
which
can
generate
greater
trust,
interaction
and
networking,
i.e.
increased
social
capital.
On
the
other
hand,
such
benefits
can
be
negated
or
overturned
by:
the
lack
of
divergence
in
needs
and
wants
for
public
goods
and
services
across
jurisdictions;
even
if
such
needs
diverge,
the
lack
of
any
informational
gains
at
local
level
that
can
help
address
them;
the
loss
of
economies
of
scale;
complicating
macroeconomic
policy
coordination,
especially
the
implementation
of
stabilisation
policies;
inadequate
expertise
and
human
resources
leading
to
special
interest
capture
and
clientelism,
i.e.
as
has
been
mooted
with
regards
to
recent
events
in
Ireland
and
Iceland.
The
overall
positive
or
negative
economic
effects
of
FA
cannot
be
established
using
theory
alone,
nor,
as
we
have
seen,
through
existing
empirical
results.
This
may
not
be
a
surprising
finding
given
how
the
various
transmission
mechanisms
might
work
based
on:
different
forms
of
FA;
local/national
government
size;
and
institutional
structures.
While
section
2
suggests
that
more
work
needs
to
be
undertaken
to
understand
what
sort
of
relationship
exists
in
practice
between
FA
and
economic
growth,
this
section
emphasises
the
importance
of
knowing
which
of
a
variety
of
transmission
mechanisms
is
the
most
vital
in
making
11
See for example, Rodriguez-Pose & Ezcurra (2010), Hallwood &MacDonald (2009), Feld & Schnellenbach (2010)
any
such
relationship
work.
We
believe
it
is
important
(and
incumbent
on
those
who
advocate
greater
FA)
to
map
out
the
specific
links
between
FA
and
economic
growth,
as
this
will
then
assist
further
empirical
work
on
the
extent
to
which
such
links
exist
(and
how
strong
they
are),
and
how
policy
can
be
formulated
to
maximise
the
benefits
of
more
FA.
Corporation
Tax
One
of
the
most
specific
ways
that
greater
tax
revenue
autonomy
might
improve
the
economic
growth
rate
relates
to
the
ability
to
alter,
or
more
specifically
to
reduce,
the
rate
of
corporation
tax
in
Scotland.
This
position
has
been
put
forward
by
the
current
Scottish
Government
as
well
as
by
Hallwood
&
MacDonald
(2009,
Chapter
10)
who
state
that
lowering
corporation
tax
by
10
per
cent
can
increase
the
growth
rate
of
real
GDP
by
between
1
and
2
per
cent
per
year.
The
evidence
for
this
relationship
rests
on
a
paper
by
Lee
&
Gordon
(2005)
covering
70
countries
over
1970-1997.
However,
Lee
&
Gordons
findings
were
brought
into
question
in
a
subsequent
paper
by
Angelopoulos
et
al
(2007)
who,
when
they
restricted
the
dataset
to
the
23
more
developed
countries
over
the
period
1970
to
2000
found
a
positive
(or
no)
relationship
(depending
on
the
specification)
between
corporation
tax
and
growth.
This
is
a
finding
similar
to
previous
work
on
OECD
countries
(Widmalm,
2001).
Others
have
found
that
lower
taxes
attract
inward
foreign
direct
invest
(FDI),
but
the
impact
is
small
unless
tax
rates
are
set
at
(very)
low
levels.12
And
if
this
is
done,
then
it
raises
the
issue
of
where
lost
tax
revenues
should
be
recouped,
unless
the
impact
on
other
taxes
(such
as
income
tax)
from
the
extra
inward
FDI
are
sufficient
to
offset
the
decline
in
corporation
tax
as
applied
to
all
Scottish
companies.
There
is
also
the
issue
of
EU
state
aid
rules
to
consider.
These
state
that
while
national
governments
(like
the
UK)
are
allowed
to
operate
differential
rates
of
corporation
tax
across
different
areas
within
the
country,
this
however
must
be
matched
by
a
compensatory
reduction
in
the
level
of
subsidies
provided
to
such
areas
(i.e.
the
overall
fiscal
impact
for
the
beneficiary
areas
must
be
zero).
This
issue
is
very
much
live
in
Northern
Ireland
at
present.
In
Scotland
it
may
be
complicated
by
the
impact
of
North
Sea
revenues
on
assumed
subsidy
levels
(i.e.,
whether
corporation
tax
levied
on
North
Sea
Oil
are
deemed
part
of
Scottish
or
UK
revenues).
Hallwood
&
MacDonalds
second
argument
relates
to
the
ability
of
Switzerland
to
attract
international
companies
through
their
low
corporation
tax
regime.
Even
if
low(er)
levels
of
corporation
tax
has
helped
Switzerland
attract
additional
levels
of
FDI,
it
has
not
helped
Switzerland
achieve
a
fast
growth
rate
as
it
has
had
the
lowest
growth
rate
amongst
developed
OECD
economies
over
the
last
4
decades.
To
sum
up
on
the
corporation
tax
question,
the
evidence
is
again
inconclusive
over
its
impact
on
economic
growth.
This
should
not
come
as
a
shock
as
many
inward
investors
and
potential
entrepreneurs
will
want
to
take
into
account
a
variety
of
taxation
related
issues,
including
the
overall
tax
burden
and
the
stability
of
any
tax
regime,
when
making
investment
decisions.
Indeed
Azmar (2010) reports that on average, a 1% increase of the tax rate significantly (95% level of confidence) decreases U.S. capital (inflows) by 5% when ATR (the average tax rate) is between 0 and 10%, by 1.7% when ATR is between 10% and 20%, by 0.8% when ATR is between 20% and 30%, and by 0.5% when ATR is between 30% and 40% (p.244).
12
a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers report (2011) found that overseas investors already in the UK, rank corporation tax as 17th in a list of investment drivers. 4. Comparing known and unknown costs and benefits While we have seen the difficulties inherent in understanding the economic and financial benefits that might accrue from greater FA, on the costs side there is one area where greater certainty should be possible: i.e., the direct costs of introducing greater FA. This involves greater collection costs for the government and greater compliance costs for individuals and companies. The Scotland Bill includes an impact assessment (IA) that outlines some of these costs associated with the measures as currently proposed in the Bill. In total it is estimated the enabling legislation will cost 45 million over 7 years or around 4.2 million per annum (2011 prices). Within this, the HMRC set up costs are estimated to be 13 million but no other estimates are given for the additional costs to be borne by the Scottish Government, Scotland's businesses, who will have to operate any new system, or individual Scottish tax payers. The IA states these are indicative with "accurate estimates of costs [only being available once] implementation policies are determined" at the point of the necessary secondary legislation being brought forward. As the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland highlights in its written submission to the Scotland Bill Committee, "Costs incurred by the UK Government and the Scottish Government, including Scottish public sector bodies, will require funding so this information will be needed as part of spending review and budgeting processes". There is there now a need to address the various questions on the costs and benefits of any new legislation, in particular the new tax raising and borrowing powers that are being proposed. For example:
What are the additional benefits deemed to be delivered by this new legislation, on an annual as well as on an NPV basis? Where and when will they accrue and who will be the main beneficiaries? Does this then set a ceiling on what Scotland's tax payers could legitimately afford to spend in securing such benefits? Might such an assessment of the possible benefits set a limit on the size and extent of any tax and borrowing powers? Are the projected additional benefits sufficiently large to compensate for the additional risks that the Scottish Government and the Scottish tax payer will be carrying following the introduction of greater FA?
Without detailed answers to such questions the Scottish Government and the Scottish tax payer face an open-ended cost that ex post could question the value of what is being put in place.
Conclusions The main conclusions with regards to the four issues highlighted at the beginning of this briefing note are: - The traditional drivers of economic growth tend to concentrate on microeconomic factors (such as innovation, R&D, entrepreneurship, and knowledge-based assets in general) as the key determinants of productivity, and thus ultimately long-run prospects. To a large extent, the policy levers available in this area have been within the control of the devolved Scottish Government since 2000. And yet, there has been little debate on where and how Scotland should improve such microeconomic policies i.e., does Scotland have distinctive and effective policies to increase (firm-level) productivity. - The research findings on the issue of the relationship between fiscal autonomy (or decentralisation) and economic growth are neither consistent nor robust. Overall, the most important finding is that there is no simple and robust relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth. Indeed, any such relationship is likely to be obscured by two important difficulties: first, that definitional and data problems are currently significant; and second, that any such impacts may well be dominated by other economic and policy factors and so the precise impact of fiscal decentralisation will be very difficult to discern. - There are a variety of possible transmission mechanisms that might link FA to growth. However, they cannot be established using theory alone, nor, as we have seen, through existing empirical results. This may not be a surprising finding given how the various transmission mechanisms might work based on: different forms of FA; local/national government size; and institutional structures. - Future work needs to concentrate on the importance of knowing which of a variety of transmission mechanisms is the most vital in making any such relationship work. - On the corporation tax question, the evidence is again inconclusive over its impact on economic growth. This should not come as a shock as many inward investors and potential entrepreneurs will want to take into account a variety of taxation related issues, including the overall tax burden and the stability of any tax regime, when making investment decisions. - Is there a need to address the various questions on the costs and benefits of any new legislation, in particular new tax raising and borrowing powers? Without detailed answers to such questions the Scottish Government and the Scottish tax payer face an open-ended cost that ex-post could question the value of what is being put in place. - In looking forward on how future work might improve our knowledge base and in turn our chances of improving our economic growth rate, the following issues will be of key importance:
how to ensure that government decisions over falling capital spend are targeted at those investments with the highest economic returns;
Too much of the current debate centres around the role and importance of FA and its impact on growth, and yet this report suggests that FA has not been established as an addition to the list of factors likely to impact on long-run productivity and the growth of the Scottish economy. Hence, we need a more balanced approach, and not to forget the other (established) drivers of growth that are known to make a difference.
what skills policies government should support the most given the possibility (if any growth fails to result in high job creation) of high numbers of youth and long term unemployed; how to improve exports by identifying, and possibly supporting, Scottish industries who have a competitive advantage; how to improve innovation and productivity in both the public and private sectors.
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