Economic growth and tax components: an analysis of tax changes in OECD

Abstract

The paper examines empirically the changes in the tax mix of the OECD countries in response to economic growth from 1980 to 1999. It is found that economic growth, measured by GDP per capita, has had a significant effect on the tax mix of the OECD countries. Analysis reveals that different taxes respond differently to the growth of GDP per capita. It is shown that while the shares of personal and property taxes have responded positively to economic growth, shares of the payroll and goods and services taxes have shown a relative decline.