Kompenserar kommunalekonomiska utjämningssystemet tillräckligt för skillnad mellan kommuner?

Abstract

The system for municipal financial equalisation is intended to provide every municipality in Sweden equal conditions to run and provide services for their residents. Municipal tax rates however differ by as much as 6 percentage points, which can be an indication of the system failing to fulfil its purpose. Failure of the system to provide equal conditions would mean that certain parts of the country have to bear an unfair tax burden. Changes have been made to the system continuously with the last change having taken place at the start of 2020. This thesis analyses if the difference in municipal tax rates can be explained by the design of the system using data from 2020 to 2022 for all municipalities except Gotland. The study uses a cross-sectional regression to try and identify how well the different parts of the system fulfil their purposes of equalisation and if any undercompensation or overcompensation can be determined from its design. Overcompensation is indicated within the compensation models for public transport, schools and kindergartens for ages 1-15 and municipal adult education. The number of residents within the municipality is also determined to be an important factor for explaining the differences in tax rate. These differences remain significant after accounting for political differences between municipalities.