Global Competition for Mobile Resources: Implications for Equity, Efficiency, and Political Economy

by

David E. Wildasin
Martin School of Public Policy
and
Department of Economics
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0027
USA

Abstract

International integration of markets for labor and capital has far-reaching policy implications in economies where governments pursue extensive programs of redistribution through tax and transfer policies. The large fiscal impacts that result from movement of high- and low-income populations, as well as of capital, affect the benefits, costs, and political payoffs of redistributive policies, creating incentives for fiscal competition that may limit the extent of redistribution over time. Migration and capital flows are dynamic adjustment mechanisms, analysis of which can shed light on the consequences of structural changes such as globalization of factor markets and EU enlargement.


David Wildasin / dew@davidwildasin.us


Last updated: December 8, 2005.