Skip to content

Assessment Frequency and Equity of the Real Property Tax: Latest Evidence from Philadelphia

Yilin Hou, Lei Ding, David J. Schwegman, Alaina G. Barca

Philadelphia’s Actual Value Initiative, adopted in 2013, creates a unique opportunity for us to test whether reassessments at short intervals to true market value and taxing by such values improve equity. Based on a difference-in-differences framework using parcel-level data matched with transactions in Philadelphia and 15 comparable cities, this study, by Yilin Hou, Lei Ding, David J. Schwegman, and Alaina G. Barca, finds positive evidence on equity outcomes from more regular revaluations.

March 18, 2022

Post-Corona Balanced-Budget Super Stimulus: The Case for Shifting Taxes onto Land

Michael Kumhof, Nicolaus Tideman, Michael Hudson, Charles A Goodhart

The post-Corona economic environment puts a premium on finding fiscal means to stimulate the economy while continuing to finance current levels of expenditures and debt. Michael Kumhof, Nicolaus Tideman, Michael Hudson, and Charles A Goodhart find that the US share of land in total nonfinancial assets is more than 50%, so that the tax base is very large.

March 11, 2022

Why are Residential Property Tax Rates Regressive?

Natee Amornsiripanitch
Author Natee Amornsiripanitch uses an instrumental variable approach to show that a large portion of this pattern can be attributed to measurement error in sale prices.
February 18, 2022

Tax and Occupancy of Business Properties: Theory and Evidence from UK Business Rates

Ben Lockwood, Martin Simmler, Eddy Tam
Ben Lockwood, Martin Simmler, and Eddy Tam estimate that the retail relief reduces vacancies by 90%, and SBRR relief by up to 54%.
February 4, 2022

Are the Property Tax Burdens of Permanent Homeowners Affected by Growth in Housing Rentals and Secon

Keith Ihlanfeldt, Cynthia Fan Yang

Authors Keith Ihlanfeldt and Cynthia Fan Yang relate the effective tax rate and the tax price that homeowners pay for public services to shifts in their city's housing units in favor of rentals, broken down by type.

January 21, 2022

Did State Imposed Tax and Expenditure Limits Reduce the Fiscal Size of Local Governments?

Justin M. Ross, John D. Stavick, Patrick Carlin

This paper, by Justin M. Ross, John D. Stavick, and Patrick Carlin, revisits the research question of whether or not state-on-local tax expenditure limits (TELs) reduced the fiscal size of local governments. 

December 17, 2021

The Impact of Taxing Vacancy on Housing Markets: Evidence from France

Mariona Segú
This paper, by Mariona Segúprovides the first evaluation of a tax on vacant housing.
December 3, 2021

Real Estate Taxes and Home Value: Evidence from TCJA

Wenli Li and Edison G. Yu
Wenli Li and Edison G. Yu examine the impact of changes in the federal tax treatment of owner-occupied housing stemming from the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in January 2018 on local housing markets.
November 12, 2021

Capitalisation of a Recurring Tax on Properties: Evidence from a Local Property Tax Reform

Andreas Økland
Andreas Økland utilizes rich micro data to study the introduction of a local property tax in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
November 5, 2021

Coordination among Small Localities & Returns to Scale Property Value Assessment: Evidence from NYS

Yusun Kim, Yilin Hou, John Yinger
Yusun Kim, Yilin Hou, and John Yinger take advantage of cooperative agreements among small tax-assessing jurisdictions to explore economies of scale in property valuation.
October 29, 2021

Explore by:


Center for Policy Research
426 Eggers Hall