Interactions fiscales verticales et réaction des communes à la coopération intercommunale

Despite increasing co-operation between French municipalities, the structure of the local public sector may not have significantly changed. Although the central government expected that this co-operation would result in a decrease in the combined rates of municipal and inter-municipal taxation, this very co-operation may have brought about the opposite effect. Up to now, this controversial hypothesis has never been rigorously examined. The article shows that it cannot be dismissed however. A 10 % increase in the rate of inter-municipal taxation results in a reduction of only 1 % in the rate of taxation in the majority of the municipalities and can even induce an increase in rates for the smaller urban municipalities. Classification JEL : H77, R50