Category Archives: Business incentives

Federal policy towards business incentives

Posted on February 28, 2011 by timbartik

Several posts have identified some problems with business incentives’ national benefits.  Business tax incentives in average- growth or fast-growth local areas are likely to have national benefits that are less than costs. On the other hand, business tax incentives in … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, National vs. state vs. local | 1 Comment

Across-the-board business tax cuts vs. business incentives

Posted on February 23, 2011 by timbartik

In Investing in Kids, I calculate that high-quality business incentives can pay off for state economic development. For each dollar a state invests in high-quality business incentives, the present value of the earnings per capita of state residents increases by … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Incentive design issues | 1 Comment

Are business tax incentives a zero sum game regardless of which local areas offer such incentives?

Posted on February 22, 2011 by timbartik

I argued in a previous post that the national benefits of business tax incentives were less than 20% of the state benefits of business tax incentives. But is this true regardless of which local area is offering these tax incentives? … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, National vs. state vs. local | 2 Comments

Do all business incentives have the same national benefits?

Posted on February 17, 2011 by timbartik

I argued in a previous post that business tax incentives did not have large national benefits because such incentives did nothing directly to raise the economy’s productivity. But some business incentives do seek to directly raise business productivity. Can such … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Incentive design issues, National vs. state vs. local | 2 Comments

The national perspective: are business incentives a zero-sum game?

Posted on February 14, 2011 by timbartik

Most of this blog’s posts on business incentives and early childhood programs have taken a state and local perspective. I have focused on whether these policies produce “local economic development benefits”, which are defined as higher per capita earnings for … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, National vs. state vs. local | 2 Comments

Metro area growth and business incentives

Posted on February 10, 2011 by timbartik

How might metro area growth affect the economic development benefits of business incentives? This topic is considered in chapter 9 of Investing in Kids. We might expect fast-growing metro areas to be less in need of new jobs.  If an … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Local variation in benefits | 1 Comment

Metro area size and business incentives

Posted on February 8, 2011 by timbartik

In a previous post, I explored how the economic development benefits of a local area’s investment in early childhood programs might vary with the local area’s population size. In today’s post, I explore how metro area size might affect the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Local variation in benefits | 1 Comment

The political economy of early childhood programs

Posted on February 2, 2011 by timbartik

This lengthy series of posts on the income distribution effects of early childhood programs illustrates why some foundations, such as Pew, have been so interested in “universal” pre-k. The attraction is that universal pre-k potentially helps overcome some perceived limitations … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 8 Comments

The State of the Union and the States

Posted on January 26, 2011 by timbartik

President Obama’s State of the Union address focused on “winning the future”. This strategy included winning the future through public investments, including educational investments. For advocates of early childhood programs, it is noteworthy that the educational investments that were mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development, National vs. state vs. local | Comments Off on The State of the Union and the States

Why business incentives are progressive at the local level, but only to a limited degree

Posted on January 14, 2011 by timbartik

In this post, and a series of subsequent posts, I will consider how different types of economic development programs affect lower income versus middle income versus upper income groups.  This topic is considered in chapter 8 of my book Investing … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Distribution of benefits | Comments Off on Why business incentives are progressive at the local level, but only to a limited degree