Stanley L. Winer
Emeritus Professor
Canada Research Chair in Public Policy
Distinguished Research Professor
CV: View
Political economy of public policy; Public economics; Interregional migration and public policy
- Brief Biography
Teaching Concentrations: Political economy, public sector economics, microeconomics
Course Taught: Microeconomics, Cost-benefit analysis, political economy of public financeProfessor Winer is a Distinguished Research Professor and Canada Research Chair in Public Policy Emeritus in the School of Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Economics at Carleton University in Ottawa. His research lies at the intersection of economics and political science, including work on the formation and evolution of tax systems such as Democratic Choice and Taxation: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, Cambridge University Press 1999 (with W. Hettich). A recent project focuses on the measurement and consequences of variation in political competitiveness in Canada, the United States and India. He continues to study the connection between migration and public policy: his recent book on Interregional Migration and Public Policy in Canada, McGill-Queen’s University Press 2012 (with K. Day) was awarded the Purvis Prize for 2013 from the Canadian Economics Association. His latest co-edited book is Coercion and Social Welfare in Public Finance: Economic and Political Dimensions, Cambridge University Press 2014. This work contributes to the Wicksellian approach to public finance. He has published widely in leading academic journals. For papers and further information about Professor Winer’s research, please see his website.
Professor Winer has been a visiting professor or visiting research fellow at universities in Canada, the United States, Australia, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Japan. During the fall of 2003 he was the Fulbright-Canada Visiting Chair at Duke University. In 2013 he was the visiting Canadian lecturer in India for the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute. Professor Winer was executive vice-president of the International Institute of Public Finance, 2002 – 2005. From 2000 to 2010, Professor Winer was the Chair of the editorial board of the Carleton Library Series. He is also a research associate of the Center for Economic Studies at the University of Munich. Professor Winer holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Johns Hopkins University.
Honours
- Purvis Memorial Prize for best work on Canadian public policy (Interregional Migration and Public Policy in Canada), Canadian Economics
Association, June 2013. - Shastri-Canadian Lecturer in India, January-February 2013.
- Canada Research Chair, Tier I, Multidisciplinary in Social Science, May 2001. Renewed October 2008 and May 2015 for seven-year terms.
- Fulbright-Duke University Visiting Chair, Duke University, Fall 2003.
Active Initiatives
Books & Edited Collections
- Journal Articles
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- Toke S. Aidt, Stanley L Winer, and Peng Zhang “Franchise extension and fiscal structure in the UK 1820-1913: a new test of the Redistribution Hypothesis“. Cliometrica. (2021).
- Stanley Winer, Stephen Ferris, Bharatee Dash and Pinaki Chakraborty “Political Competition and the Private-Public Structure of Public Expenditure: A Model and Empirics for the Indian States“. International Tax and Public Finance. Springer Link . (January 2021).
- Bharatee Bhusana Dash, J. Stephen Ferris, Stanley L. Winer. “The Measurement of Electoral Competition, With Application to Indian States”. Electoral Studies. Elsevier. 60 (December 2019)
- Stanley L. Winer & Haizhen Mou “Fiscal Incidence When Both Individual Welfare and Family Structure Matter: The Case of Subsidization of Home-care for the Elderly” Public Finance Review. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 43(3): pp.373-401 (May 2015)
- Stanley L.Winer, Paloa Profeta and Simona Scabrosetti “Wealth Transfer Taxation: An Empirical Investigation“. International Tax and Public Finance. Boston: Springer US. 21(4): pp720-767 (August 2014)
- Winer, Stanley L, Lawrence W Kenny, and Bernard Grofman. “Explaining Variation in the Competitiveness of U.S. Senate Elections, 1922–2004.” Public choice. Boston: Springer 161(3/4): pp. 471–497 ( December 2014)
- Bernard, Sophie, Louis Hotte, and Stanley L Winer. “Democracy, Inequality and the Environment When Citizens Can Mitigate Health Consequences of Pollution Privately or Act Collectively.” European Journal of Political Economy. Elsevier B.V. 34: pp. 142–156 (June 2014)
- Ferris, J Stephen, Stanley L Winer, and Bernard Grofman. “Do Departures from Democratic Accountability Compromise the Stability of Public Finances? Keynesianism, Central Banking, and Minority Governments in the Canadian System of Party Government, 1867–2009.” Constitutional political economy. Boston: Springer US. 23(3): pp.213-243 (September 2012)
- Hotte, Louis, and Stanley L Winer. “Environmental Regulation and Trade Openness in the Presence of Private Mitigation.” Journal of development economics. Elsevier B.V. 97(1): pp.46-57 (2012)
- Davies, James B, and Stanley L Winer. “Closing the 49th Parallel: An Unexplored Episode in Canadian Economic and Political History” Canadian Public Policy. Guelph: University of Toronto Press. 37(3): pp.307-336 (September 2011)
- Winer, Stanley L, George Warskett, and Walter Hettich. “Consumption Versus Income Taxation: Three Moments in the Political Economy of Fiscal Choice.” Public finance and management.
Harrisburg: Southern Public Administration Education Foundation, Inc. 9(3): pp.311 (June 2009) ISSN: 1523-9721 - Ferris, J Stephen, Soo-Bin Park, and Stanley L Winer. “Studying the Role of Political Competition in the Evolution of Government Size over Long Horizons.” Public choice. Boston: Springer. 137(1/2): pp.369-401 (October 2008)
- Winer, Stanley L, and J. Stephen Ferris. “Searching for Keynesianism.” European Journal of Political Economy. Elsevier B.V. 24(2): pp.294-316 (2008)
- Winer, Stanley L. et al. “Is It Economics or Politics? Trending Economic Factors and the Structure of Congress in the Growth of Government, 1930-2002” Ottawa: Carleton University, Dept.of Economics (June 2006)
- Ferris, J. Stephen, and Stanley L. Winer. “Just How Much Bigger Is Government in Canada? A Comparative Analysis of the Size and Structure of the Public Sectors in Canada and the United States, 1929-2004.” Canadian Public Policy Guelph:University of Toronto Press. 33(2): pp.173–206 (June 2007)
- Day, Kathleen M, and Stanley Winer “Internal Migration and Public Policy in Canada: An Empirical Study”. International Tax and Public Finance Montreal: MQUP. 13: pp.535-564 (Sept. 2006)
- Hettich, Walter, and Stanley L Winer. “Analyzing the Interdependence of Regulation and Taxation.” Public finance review. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 34(4): pp. 355–380 (July 2006)
- Kenny, Lawrence W, and Stanley L Winer. “Tax Systems in the World: An Empirical Investigation into the Importance of Tax Bases, Administration Costs, Scale and Political Regime.” International tax and public finance. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers 13(2): pp.181-215 (May 2006) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10797-006-3564-7
- Tridimas, George, and Stanley L Winer. “The Political Economy of Government Size.” European Journal of Political Economy. Elsevier B.V. 21(3): pp. 643–666 (2005)
- Islam, Muhammed N, and Stanley L Winer. “Tinpots, Totalitarians (and Democrats): An Empirical Investigation of the Effects of Economic Growth on Civil Liberties and Political Rights.” Public choice. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 118(3/4): pp.289–323 (2004)
- Hotte, Louis., and Stanley L. Winer. ”Political Influence, Economic Interests and Endogenous Tax Structure in a Computable Equilibrium Framework : with Application to the United States, 1973 and 1983” Ottawa, Ont: Dept. of Economics, Carleton University (200)
- Warskett, George, Stanley L Winer, and Walter Hettich. “The Complexity of Tax Structure in Competitive Political Systems.” International tax and public finance. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 5(2): pp.123-151 (May 1998)
- Hettich, Walter, and Stanley L Winer. “Decision Externalities, Economic Efficiency and Institutional Response.” Canadian public policy. Downsview, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 21(3): pp. 344-361 (September 1995)
- Hettich, Walter., and Stanley L. Winer. “Economic Efficiency, Political Institutions and Policy Analysis” Ottawa: Dept. of Economics, Carleton U., (1991)
- Swimmer, Gene, and Stanley L Winer. “Dispute Resolution and Self-Selection : An Empirical Examination of the Federal Public Sector, 1971-1982.” Relations industrielles (Québec, Québec) Quebec: Département des relations industrielles de l’Université Laval. 48(1): pp.146-162 (1993)
- Winer, Stanley L, and Walter Hettich. “Debt and Tariffs: An Empirical Investigation of the Evolution of Revenue Systems.” Journal of public economics. Elsevier B.V. 45(2): pp. 215–242 (1991)
- Hettich, Walter., and Stanley L. Winer. “Economic and Political Foundations of Tax Structure”. Ottawa: Carleton U., 1986. Reprinted in James Alm (ed.). The Economics of Taxation, Volume I. Edward Elgar, 2011, 325-338. Reprinted in James Alm and Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (eds.). Tax Reform in Developing Countries, Volume II. Edward Elgar, 2015, 608-619.
- Hettich, Walter, and Stanley L Winer. “Federalism, Special Interests and the Exchange of Policies for Political Resources.” European Journal of Political Economy. Elsevier B.V. 3(1): pp. 33–54 (1987)
- “Money and Politics in a Small Open Economy,” Public Choice. Leiden: Springer Nature B.V 51(2): pp. 221-239 (1986)
- Winer, Stanley L. “The Role of Exchange Rate Flexibility in the International Transmission of Inflation in Long and Shorter Runs: Canada, 1953 to 1981.” The Canadian journal of economics. Toronto, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 19(1): pp. 62-86 (1986)
- Hettich, Walter, and Stanley Winer. “Vertical Imbalance in the Fiscal Systems of Federal States.” The Canadian journal of economics. Toronto, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 19(4): pp. 745–765 (November 1986)
- Walter Hettich, and Stanley Winer. “Blueprints And Pathways: The Shifting Foundations Of Tax Reform:.” National tax journal. Chicago, Ill: National Tax Association. 38(4): pp. 423–445 (December 1985) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/NTJ41792105 Reprinted in P. White (ed.), The International Library of Essays in Law and Legal Theory, Tax Law Volume II, Dartmouth Publishing Co. 1995, 3-26.
- Hettich, Walter, and Stanley Winer. “A Positive Model of Tax Structure.” Journal of public economics. Elsevier B.V. 24(1): pp. 67–87 (1984) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(84)90005-7 Reprinted in Wallace Oates (ed.). The Economics of Federalism and Local Finance. The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, Edward Elgar Publishers, 1998.
- Winer, Stanley. “A Comment on the Papers by Thomas Courchene and Albert Breton.” Public choice. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 44(1): pp. 273–278 (January 1984)
- Winer, Stanley L. “Some Evidence on the Effect of the Separation of Spending and Taxing Decisions.” The Journal of political economy. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 91(1): pp. 126-140 (1983) Reprinted in Problemi di Administrazione Publica, 9, Formez, Naples, 1984, 93-118.
- West, E. G, and Stanley L Winer. “Optimal Fiscal Illusion and the Size of Government.” Public choice. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 35(5): pp. 607–622 (1980); Reprinted as “La ilusión fiscal óptima y tamaño del sector público”. Hacienda Pública Española. 1988. 276-286
- West, E. G, and S. L Winer. “Will Federal Centralization Help the Poor?” Canadian public policy. Downsview, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 6(4): pp. 662–667 (October 1980)
- West, Edwin G, and Stanley L Winer. “The Individual, Political Tension, and Canada’s Quest for a New Constitution.” Canadian public policy. Downsview, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 6(1): pp. 3–15 (January 1980)
- Winer, Stanley L. “Short-Run Monetary-Fiscal Influences in a Federal State: With Application to the Canadian Economy, 1947 to 1973.” Public finance quarterly. Sage Publications, Inc. 7(4): pp. 395–424. (October 1979)
- Sheikh, M. A, and S. L Winer. “Stabilization and Nonfederal Behaviour in an Open Federal State: An Econometric Study of the Fixed Exchange Rate, Canadian Case.” Empirical economics. Springer. 2(3): pp. 195–21 (September 1977)
- Lithwick, N.H, and Stanley L Winer. “Faltering Federalism and French Canadians.” Journal of Canadian studies. Peterborough, Ont: University of Toronto Press. 12(3): pp. 44–52 (1977)
Videos
Media coverage
The integration of public finance and collective choice
This longstanding research program combines the traditional concerns of public finance with the analysis of collective choice mechanisms and explores the implications of the resulting frameworks for the positive and normative analysis of taxation, public expenditure and public policy generally. The newest addition will be a monograph (in preparation for Cambridge) on Political Competition and Public Economics.
Political competition in mature democracies: what is it, how do you measure it, and does it matter?
This research is concerned with the meaning, measurement, and consequences for public policy of variation in the degree of political competition in mature democracies. Applications include elections to the parliament of Canada and their consequences over the history of the modern state from 1867, elections for the United States Senate from 1922 and, the measurement and consequences of competitiveness in elections at the state level in India. The newest addition here is a planned program of empirical work on ‘Inequality and Political Competition’ in the Indian states.
Migration and public policy in Canada
Internal and international migration are important determinants of regional and national well-being. In this work I investigate the consequences of regional variation in the generosity of the unemployment insurance system and other public policies for interprovincial migration. I have also studied the role of Canada-U.S migration in the evolution of fiscal structure in Canada.
Coercion and Social Welfare in Public Finance: Economic and Political Dimensions
Although coercion is a fundamental and unavoidable part of our social lives, economists have not offered an integrated analysis of its role in the public economy. The essays in this book focus on coercion arising from the operation of the fiscal system, a major part of the public sector. Collective choices on fiscal matters emerge from and have all the essential characteristics of social interaction, including the necessity to force unwanted actions on some citizens. This was recognized in an older tradition in public finance which can still serve as a starting point for modern work. The contributors to the volume recognize this tradition, but add to it by using contemporary frameworks to study a set of related issues concerning fiscal coercion and economic welfare. These issues range from the compatibility of an open access society with the original Wicksellian vision to the productivity of coercion in experimental games.
Interregional Migration and Public Policy in Canada: An Empirical Study
Given Canada’s vast geography and uneven distribution of economic activity, almost all Canadians have at one time or another faced the question of whether an interprovincial move would make them better off.
Using a unique dataset based on income tax records, authors Kathleen Day and Stanley Winer examine the factors influencing the decision to migrate within Canada, paying special attention to the role of regional variation in the generosity of public policies including unemployment insurance, taxation, and public expenditure. The influence of extraordinary events such as the election of a separatist government in Quebec and the closure of the east coast cod fishery is also considered. They look at why we ought to be concerned about public policies that interfere with market-based incentives to move, provide a wealth of information on interregional differences in public policies and market conditions, and examine what other researchers have discovered about fiscally induced migration, culminating in a discussion of the likely impact of various policy changes on migration and provincial unemployment rates.
The authors’ assessment of the lessons to be learned from their own and past research on policy-induced migration in Canada will be of interest to students of migration and policy makers alike.
Political Economy and Public Finance: The Role of Political Economy in the Theory and Practice of Public Economics.
There is a long-standing difference amongst public economists between those who think that collective choice must be formally acknowledged, and those who derive their policy recommendations from a social planning framework in which politics plays no role. The purpose of this book is to contribute to a meaningful dialogue between these two groups, in the belief that the future of both political economy and of normative public finance lies somewhere between the two approaches.
Some of the specific questions addressed in the book include: does public finance need political economy? Should collective choice play a role in the standard of reference used in normative public finance? What is a ‘failure’ in a non-market or policy process? And what have we learned about the theory and practice of public finance from three decades of empirical research on public choice? The book also provides a practitioner’s view of the political economy of redistribution.
Political Economy in Federal States: Selected Essays of Stanley L. Winer
Federal states are lively sources of data on the economics and politics of the public sector. In this rich collection of essays, some of which are previously unpublished, Stanley Winer makes use of these data from Canada, the United States and Australia to explore a variety of issues including: the political economy of intergovernmental grants, the evolution of tax structure, the re-assignment of fiscal powers among jurisdictions, the nature of special interest groups, fiscally-induced internal migration and macroeconomic policy. Other chapters exploit the unique Canadian experience with both fixed and flexible exchange rate regimes to test ideas about the macroeconomic consequences of subcentral fiscal policy in a small, open federal country, the role of the exchange rate mechanism in the international transmission of economic activity, and the relationship between monetary growth and political popularity. A concern with the integration of economics and politics is evident throughout this book, which will be essential reading for all economists and political scientists with an interest in the public sector.
Democratic Choice and Taxation: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis
This work examines tax policies and tax systems as they arise from democratic choices, set against the background of a market economy. Professors Hettich and Winer find that democratic institutions yield complex tax systems with features that follow a varied but predictable pattern. In developing their analysis, the authors use formal modelling of voting behavior, emphasizing recent advances in the theory of probabilistic voting. This book differs from the available tax literature by relating fiscal choices directly to voting and by examining tax systems in democratic countries from a variety of perspectives. While the authors primarily focus on explaining observed features of tax systems, they also devote considerable space to the discussion of the welfare and efficiency effects of taxation in the presence of collective choice, and to a review of other models and of the related literature. In addition, they use computational general equilibrium analysis and statistical research on national and state governments in the US and Canada to link theory to empirical data.
Knocking on the Back Door: Canadian Perspectives on the Political Economy of Freer Trade with the United States
The papers in this volume offer a wide range of perspectives on the Canada-US free trade debate, and on Canada-US trade relations generally. Includes revised versions of papers delivered at a conference organized and sponsored by Carleton University’s School of Administration in the fall of 1986. The papers focus on issues of process and politics, including the problems of adjusting to trade liberalization, sovereignty, the negotiating process and the role of social science and many other topics such as the past behavior of business people adapting to previous trade liberalization, the nature of the actual negotiations, and the role of the provinces in these negotiations.
Internal Migration and Fiscal Structure: An Econometric Study of the Determinants of Inter- Provincial Migration in Canada
This work is concerned with the empirical relevance of the relationship between interprovincial migration and fiscal structure in Canada
Fiscally induced internal migration lies at the center of several policy debates. Two of these debates, which are of particular importance in the Canadian context, are surveyed briefly in the first chapter. Recent developments in Canadian interprovincial migration trends are also reviewed in Chapter 1, with a view to very roughly assessing the probability that fiscal structures had a part to play with them
Interprovincial Migration Data: A Supplement to “Internal Migration and Fiscal Structure
This technical paper presents the interprovincial migration data used by the authors in their study of fiscally-induced migration in Canada. The two parts of the paper are labeled appendix B and appendix C, corresponding to the appendices in the main study in which the verbal parts of this data supplement are reproduced. Appendix B presents a revision of the family allowance migration series for the years 1950 to 1978. Appendix E presents a new migration series by income class based on federal tax files for the years 1968 to 1977
2019
2015
- February 27, 2015
Lively Debate at Author Meets Readers - January 21, 2015
Coercion and Social Welfare in Public Finance
2012
- February 13, 2012
Interregional Migration and Public Policy in Canada
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