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Supranational actors in intergovernmental policy areas - The European Commission as an agent in tax policy

Lang, Tamara Celina LU (2014) STVM23 20141
Department of Political Science
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to examine how a supranational institution acts in a policy field marked by a high degree of intergovernmental decision-making (i.e. decision-making between Member State governments). It analyses the strategies the European Commission applied in one case in the area of tax policy, namely the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) proposal; drawing on the principal-agent approach as the theoretical underpinning. Based on documentary analysis and relevant secondary material, it finds that the Commission as the agent used seven different strategies in this case, and that they can be grouped into three types: the confrontational, cooperative and persuasive type. It moreover finds that there are strategies... (More)
The aim of this thesis is to examine how a supranational institution acts in a policy field marked by a high degree of intergovernmental decision-making (i.e. decision-making between Member State governments). It analyses the strategies the European Commission applied in one case in the area of tax policy, namely the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) proposal; drawing on the principal-agent approach as the theoretical underpinning. Based on documentary analysis and relevant secondary material, it finds that the Commission as the agent used seven different strategies in this case, and that they can be grouped into three types: the confrontational, cooperative and persuasive type. It moreover finds that there are strategies which are predominant in different phases of the development of the proposal, spanning from 2001-2014. In the initial phase, the Commission mainly applied strategies of the confrontational and the persuasive type; the mid-phase was dominated by cooperative strategies, while the phase after the proposal was issued was mainly characterised by persuasive strategies. By providing a comprehensive analysis of the agent’s strategies, the thesis makes a valuable contribution to the strand of principal-agent literature which focuses on the agent’s behaviour; as well as to the political science literature on tax policy. (Less)
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author
Lang, Tamara Celina LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM23 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Principal-agent approach, agent strategies, EU tax policy, direct taxation, Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB)
language
English
id
4448225
date added to LUP
2014-07-07 14:43:15
date last changed
2014-07-07 14:43:15
@misc{4448225,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis is to examine how a supranational institution acts in a policy field marked by a high degree of intergovernmental decision-making (i.e. decision-making between Member State governments). It analyses the strategies the European Commission applied in one case in the area of tax policy, namely the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) proposal; drawing on the principal-agent approach as the theoretical underpinning. Based on documentary analysis and relevant secondary material, it finds that the Commission as the agent used seven different strategies in this case, and that they can be grouped into three types: the confrontational, cooperative and persuasive type. It moreover finds that there are strategies which are predominant in different phases of the development of the proposal, spanning from 2001-2014. In the initial phase, the Commission mainly applied strategies of the confrontational and the persuasive type; the mid-phase was dominated by cooperative strategies, while the phase after the proposal was issued was mainly characterised by persuasive strategies. By providing a comprehensive analysis of the agent’s strategies, the thesis makes a valuable contribution to the strand of principal-agent literature which focuses on the agent’s behaviour; as well as to the political science literature on tax policy.}},
  author       = {{Lang, Tamara Celina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Supranational actors in intergovernmental policy areas - The European Commission as an agent in tax policy}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}