An Applied General Equilibrium Model to Assess the Impact of National Tax Changes on a Regional Economy

Abstract

This paper presents two versions of an applied general equilibrium model for the regional economy of Andalusia, Spain, that differ in the Public Sector behavior. We intend to exemplify the use of a model with these characteristics to analyze the impact that the reform of the personal income tax (Act 40/98) implemented in Spain as a whole would have had on the Andalusian region in particular. Such an important tax reform is bound to affect the behavior of the agents in this economy, both in the microeconomic and the derived macroeconomic spheres. The general character of the tax reform under analysis and the relations among the different economic agents advise us to use models with these characteristics to study the effects of this reform. The models is of the neoclassical variety and include not only the productive sectors of the economy but also the foreign sector and the government, which are usually absent from theoretical general equilibrium models. Both versions of the model are calibrated by using a Social Accounting Matrix of Andalusia for 1995.