------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 08:49:28 -0500 (EST)
From: John M Halstead <ram.info@unh.edu>
Reply-to: John M Halstead <ram.info@unh.edu>
To: cenet <cenet@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: taxes
Just a few empirical words to add to the debate: in a survey of
manufacturing firms in Maine, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Vermont which
Steve Deller and I conducted, firms were asked to rate sixteen different
factors in terms of their importance to their continued presence in the
region. Using a 1-5 likert scale, with 5 "very important", the top
factor in all four states was quality of life/amenities. Property taxes
were a distant third; "government location inducement"--which presumably
includes tax breaks--finished last or next to last in all states, with a
score of only 1.65/5.0. Of course, these are firms which are already
there. Copies of the experiment station publication which has the survey
results, "Local Infrastructure and Economic Development", can be obtained
by emailing or regular mailing me at:
John Halstead
Dept of Resource Economics
312 James Hall
Univ of New Hampshire
Durham NH 03824
jmh
Associate Professor
Dept. of Ag. Economics & Rural Soc.
University of Idaho
Moscow, ID 83843
http://www.uidaho.edu/~scooke/onepercent
208-885-7170 (phone)
208-885-5759 (fax)