Taxation as a Global Socio-Legal Phenomenon

Abstract

This essay makes a proposal that might be controversial among tax scholars even if it is non-controversial to those with a particular interest in international law: that international social and institutional structures shape, and are shaped by, historical and contemporary domestic policy decisions. As a result, tax law scholars must seek a broad framework for understanding the rapid changes that are taking place in tax policy and politics. Our aim in this essay is to further an emergent dialogue between tax law scholars and international law scholars about how law and institutions evolve and interact in a globally integrated system. We do so by offering four lines of inquiry that incorporate the lessons from multiple areas of scholarship, including international relations theory, sovereignty theory, political philosophy, political economy, and behavioral game theory, so as to begin to understand the changing pressures on taxation that are emerging as a result of the increasingly complex relationship between states, markets, and people in a globalized world.

Keywords: taxation, international law, international relations, globalization, law and institutions, global governance

JEL Classification: E63, H2, F02, H87, K33, K34, N40, P45