Coercion, Taxation, and Voluntary Association
28 Pages Posted: 18 Aug 2010 Last revised: 6 May 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Coercion, Taxation, and Voluntary Association
Date Written: May 4, 2011
Abstract
Voluntary and coercive relationships among person play important roles in ethics, political theory, and Western law. This essay attempts to clarify the meaning and limits of coercion using matrix representations of voluntary and coercive proposals.
Two settings are focused on in this paper: the first is one in which an outsider can make explicit or implicit proposals that an individual (or organization) can accept or reject. The second is one where governments make explicit or implicit proposals that an individual or organization can accept or reject by emigrating to another polity.
In both settings the "base line" turns out to be important in assessing whether a proposal is voluntarily accepted or "forced" upon the person or organization of interest.
Keywords: Coercion, Rent Extraction, Taxation, Tax Competition, Voluntary Association
JEL Classification: D60, H3, H73
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation