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Bureaucracies, Neoliberal Ideas, and Tax Reform in N ew Z ealand and I reland
Author(s) -
Christensen Johan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/gove.12009
Subject(s) - bureaucracy , economics , incentive , institutionalisation , tax reform , politics , tax policy , state (computer science) , political economy , political science , public economics , market economy , law , algorithm , computer science
Why did N ew Z ealand adopt one of the most neoliberal tax systems in the world, whereas I reland pursued a heterodox tax policy of low rates, deep deductions, and distortionary tax incentives? The diverging tax policy trajectories of these two small liberal market economies since 1980 are not well accounted for by conventional ideational, partisan, or political‐institutional explanations. The article argues that the varying degree of neoliberal reform is better understood as the result of differences in the institutionalization of economic knowledge within the state . Distinct administrative institutions in N ew Z ealand and I reland gave rise to profound differences in the identities, expertise, economic ideas, and policy advice approach of tax policy bureaucrats, which had a major impact on tax policymaking in the two countries.