Do Output Contractions Cause Investment in Fiscal Capacity?
研究发现经济衰退可能促使政府投资于财政能力，通过扩大税基来降低税率和效率损失，美国大萧条期间各州的数据支持这一结论。
This paper shows that an economic slump can induce a government to invest in fiscal capacity. Large negative income shocks stress the revenue-raising capability of narrow tax bases, making an increase in tax base breadth desirable relative to its fixed implementation cost. A broader tax base enables revenue to be raised at lower tax rates, and so lower deadweight loss. The behavior of US state governments during the Great Depression supports the model: states experiencing larger than average negative income shocks were more likely to adopt a retail sales tax than were states experiencing smaller than average income shocks.