Regional Effects of Taxes in Canada: An Applied General Equilibrium Approach

Abstract

This paper reports on an applied general equilibrium regional model for Canada which is used to investigate the regional effects of taxes. Earlier, literature on regional tax effects is reviewed and the main features of the model are briefly described. Existing literature on regional tax effects is largely non-quantitative, and does not discuss several important regional features of taxes, such as taxes which are predominantly on products or industries located in particular regions. Results suggest that regional effects of taxes can be significant, and in the Canadian case at least, do not tend to counterbalance one another. In general, richer regions tend to lose and poorer regions gain from federal taxes, but other regional characteristics such as manufacturing/non-manufacturing, or resource/non-resource can be important.