Property tax and fiscal discipline in OECD countries

This paper investigates the effects of property taxation on fiscal discipline for a sample of OECD countries over the period 1973-2011. We find that aggregate property taxation in total tax revenues is not statistically correlated with the primary surplus-to-GDP ratio. In contrast, a greater reliance on property taxes pertaining to sub-national governments contributes to fiscal discipline, suggesting that fiscal decentralization should favor responsive tax base instruments.