The Measurement of Effective Tax Rates: Common Themes in Business Management and Economics

Economic agents who face the diversity of tax systems demand condensed but sophisticated information on effective tax burdens. We analyse common features and differences between important forward-looking concepts of measuring effective tax rates in business management and economics and develop some useful properties for analysing and communicating them. We explore how the instruments can be employed to provide information on the impact of taxation on decision-making, competition, and distribution. The large variety of instruments proves very useful. However, it turns out to be necessary to reveal the measurement’s scope and to carefully choose the adequate approach and measure.

Lammersen, Lothar (2002), The Measurement of Effective Tax Rates: Common Themes in Business Management and Economics, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 02-46, Mannheim.