Feb 6, 2025 01:43 AM
(This post was last modified: Feb 7, 2025 12:59 AM by C C.)
Tax giveaways create more jobs when someone’s watching
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1072843
INTRO: In 2019, Kansas and Missouri called a truce in a subsidies war. After competing to lure businesses to their respective sides of Kansas City, they found they’d collectively spent $350 million over 10 years to net a paltry 1,500 jobs. They halted the practice of giving tax breaks to relocate in their border-adjacent counties.
Although business tax subsidies have tripled in size over 30 years, it’s not uncommon for companies to take them and then fail to create the promised jobs, says Lisa De Simone, professor of accounting at Texas McCombs.
Rather than eliminating subsidies, other states have tried a different tactic to make sure subsidies deliver economically. They’ve passed disclosure laws, requiring that information about the subsidies be reported” such as the amount of the subsidy or the number of jobs created. They reason that transparency pressures companies to make good on their promises and governments to hold them accountable.
In new research, De Simone finds disclosure laws are effective in boosting local employment — at least, some kinds of disclosure laws.
The effective ones, she found, are internal disclosure laws. They require the granting state agency to report a tax break to other state agencies. Not only do they lead to more jobs, she found, but they also save taxpayers money.
By contrast, external disclosure laws, which release subsidy news to the public, appear to have little to no job impact.
“There have been a lot of calls for more disclosure around business tax subsidies to make sure governments use them in good ways,” De Simone says. “But clearly, just having some type of law is not enough.” (MORE - details, no ads)
Wealth is strong predictor of prosocial behaviour around the world, study suggests
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/w...y-suggests
INTRO: Wealthy people are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviour such as donating money or volunteering, according to a new global study.
In a new paper published today in PNAS Nexus, researchers from the University of Birmingham found that there were significant associations between both objective wealth and subjective financial well-being, and various aspects of ‘prosocial’ behaviour including altruistic intentions and reciprocity: being prosocial in return when someone else helps you.
Countries around the world were included in the study, incorporating data from more than 80,000 people from 76 countries representing a wide range of cultures and economies. The findings suggest that relative wealth in different countries drives the same motivations towards altruistic intent and behaviour. Furthermore, the findings suggest that supporting financial equality would have a strong impact on increasing prosocial attitudes.
Patricia Lockwood, Professor of Decision Neuroscience at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the study said:
“There has been disagreement as to whether higher wealth makes you more or less prosocial. Our study clearly shows that wealth, and a subjective sense of financial well-being, are very strongly associated with prosocial behaviours and attitudes. Wealthier people are more inclined to give money to charity, and also to volunteer or do reciprocal acts of generosity. What’s more, this effect is highly consistent globally even in countries that differ a lot in levels of wealth.
“However, we do also see a negative association between wealth and trust. People with higher income were less likely to trust others to act positively towards them. Finally, higher wealth was linked with punishing those who behave badly. This can be an important part of maintaining levels prosocial or good behaviour in society.”
The study found that previous experience of financial hardship leads to the strongest association between wealth and prosocial behaviour. Lead author Paul Vanags explained:
“When people have experienced precarity, higher financial well-being is then more likely to result in prosocial behaviours such as helping a stranger, donating and volunteering. So, when people have experienced hardship but have improved their personal circumstances to the point where they now feel well off, this is associated with higher levels of beneficial prosocial behaviours.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1072843
INTRO: In 2019, Kansas and Missouri called a truce in a subsidies war. After competing to lure businesses to their respective sides of Kansas City, they found they’d collectively spent $350 million over 10 years to net a paltry 1,500 jobs. They halted the practice of giving tax breaks to relocate in their border-adjacent counties.
Although business tax subsidies have tripled in size over 30 years, it’s not uncommon for companies to take them and then fail to create the promised jobs, says Lisa De Simone, professor of accounting at Texas McCombs.
Rather than eliminating subsidies, other states have tried a different tactic to make sure subsidies deliver economically. They’ve passed disclosure laws, requiring that information about the subsidies be reported” such as the amount of the subsidy or the number of jobs created. They reason that transparency pressures companies to make good on their promises and governments to hold them accountable.
In new research, De Simone finds disclosure laws are effective in boosting local employment — at least, some kinds of disclosure laws.
The effective ones, she found, are internal disclosure laws. They require the granting state agency to report a tax break to other state agencies. Not only do they lead to more jobs, she found, but they also save taxpayers money.
By contrast, external disclosure laws, which release subsidy news to the public, appear to have little to no job impact.
“There have been a lot of calls for more disclosure around business tax subsidies to make sure governments use them in good ways,” De Simone says. “But clearly, just having some type of law is not enough.” (MORE - details, no ads)
Wealth is strong predictor of prosocial behaviour around the world, study suggests
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/w...y-suggests
INTRO: Wealthy people are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviour such as donating money or volunteering, according to a new global study.
In a new paper published today in PNAS Nexus, researchers from the University of Birmingham found that there were significant associations between both objective wealth and subjective financial well-being, and various aspects of ‘prosocial’ behaviour including altruistic intentions and reciprocity: being prosocial in return when someone else helps you.
Countries around the world were included in the study, incorporating data from more than 80,000 people from 76 countries representing a wide range of cultures and economies. The findings suggest that relative wealth in different countries drives the same motivations towards altruistic intent and behaviour. Furthermore, the findings suggest that supporting financial equality would have a strong impact on increasing prosocial attitudes.
Patricia Lockwood, Professor of Decision Neuroscience at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the study said:
“There has been disagreement as to whether higher wealth makes you more or less prosocial. Our study clearly shows that wealth, and a subjective sense of financial well-being, are very strongly associated with prosocial behaviours and attitudes. Wealthier people are more inclined to give money to charity, and also to volunteer or do reciprocal acts of generosity. What’s more, this effect is highly consistent globally even in countries that differ a lot in levels of wealth.
“However, we do also see a negative association between wealth and trust. People with higher income were less likely to trust others to act positively towards them. Finally, higher wealth was linked with punishing those who behave badly. This can be an important part of maintaining levels prosocial or good behaviour in society.”
The study found that previous experience of financial hardship leads to the strongest association between wealth and prosocial behaviour. Lead author Paul Vanags explained:
“When people have experienced precarity, higher financial well-being is then more likely to result in prosocial behaviours such as helping a stranger, donating and volunteering. So, when people have experienced hardship but have improved their personal circumstances to the point where they now feel well off, this is associated with higher levels of beneficial prosocial behaviours.”