How does globalization affect the tax burden on labour income, capital income and consumption in different welfare regimes. The case of Western and Eastern EU Member States.

This paper analyzes the effects of globalization on implicit tax rates (ITRs) on labour income, capital income, and consumption in the EU15 and Central and Eastern European New Member States (CEE NMS). We find a positive effect of globalization on the ITR on labour income in the EU15, but no effect on the ITR on capital income, and a negative effect on ITR on consumption. There is a significant negative effect on the ITR on capital income in the social-democratic and southern welfare regimes, a marginally significant negative effect in the liberal regime; a negative effect on the ITR on consumption in the social-democratic, conservative, and liberal regimes; and a positive effect on the ITR on labour income in all welfare regimes. In the CEE NMS there is no effect of globalization on any ITRs. (author's abstract)