L'hypothèse d'équivalence entre impôt et emprunt : un test sur les pays de l'OCDE

This paper provides a short survey of the theoretical discussion on the equivalence between taxation and debt financing of public expenditures. It stresses that the key assumption in this debate concerns the behaviour of individuals towards their economic environment and public policy. Then, it turns to an empirical test of equivalence based on a new sample of 19 OECD countries for the period 1961-1983. The conclusion is consistent with previous studies: the case of equivalence between tax and debt financing is not established.