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ZusammenfassungIn the present article, we empirically analyse a series of competing hypothesis that try to account for the considerable disparity in the tax burden between Swiss cantons. Three hypotheses focus on differences in spending levels: The first explains differences in the tax burden with differences in citizens' demand for government services. The second emphasizes the differences in efficiency between cantonal administrations, whereas the third insists on the more or less easy access to cantonal instruments of direct democracy. However, when confronted to the data, none of these three expenditure‐based hypotheses are confirmed by our cross‐sectional estimations. On the contrary, our regressions lend support to the hypotheses which highlights the differences in tax revenues between cantons. These results suggest that it is not differences in government spending which account for the disparity in cantonal tax levels, but differences in the cantonal endowment with resources. This indicates that some financial equalization on the cantonal level might strengthen the equity of Switzerland's tax system.

Examines differences in tax burden of the Swiss cantons based on spending differences; argues that disparity in cantonal taxation is caused by differences in cantonal resources, not by differences in government spending; late 1990s. Summaries in French and English.

"Im vorliegenden Artikel wird zuerst das Ausmass der Steuerdisparitäten zwischen den Schweizer Kantonen aufgezeigt. In einem zweiten Schritt werden auf der Basis eines theoretischen Modells vier Hypothesen zur Erklärung dieser Steuerdisparitäten empirisch untersucht. Die Ergebnisse dieser Querschnittsschätzungen liefern kein Indiz dafür, dass die Unterschiede in der Steuerbelastung das Resultat von kantonal unterschiedlichen Ansprüchen nach öffentlichen Leistungen sind. Ebenso wenig sichtbar wird der Einfluss auf die Steuerdisparitäten von einerseits unterschiedlicher Verwaltungseffizienz und andererseits unterschiedlich leicht zugänglichen Volksrechten. Bestätigt von unseren Daten wird einzig eine Hypothese, die sich auf die Einnahmenseite stützt: Die Unterschiede in der Ausstattung mit Ressourcen erklären einen überwiegenden Teil der kantonalen Steuerdisparitäten. Dieses Resultat deutet darauf hin, dass ein gewisser interkantonaler Finanzausgleich die Steuergerechtigkeit in der Schweiz verbessern könnte." (Autorenreferat)

In the present article, we empirically analyze a series of competing hypotheses that try to account for the considerable disparity in the tax burden between Swiss cantons. Three hypotheses focus on differences in spending levels: the first explains differences in the tax burden with differences in citizens' demand for government services. The second emphasizes the differences in efficiency between cantonal administrations. The third insists on the more or less easy access to cantonal instruments of direct democracy. However, when confronted to the data, none of these three expenditure-based hypotheses are confirmed by our cross-sectional estimations. On the contrary, our regressions lend support to the hypotheses that highlight the differences in tax revenues between cantons. These results suggest that it is not differences in government spending that account for the disparity in cantonal tax levels, but differences in the cantonal endowment with resources. This indicates that some financial equalization on the cantonal level might strengthen the equity of Switzerland's tax system. 3 Tables, 1 Graph, 1 Appendix, 21 References. Adapted from the source document.