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Fiscal Challenges and Opportunities for an Independent Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Rowena Crawford  and
Gemma Tetlow
Rowena Crawford*
Affiliation:
Institute for Fiscal Studies
Gemma Tetlow*
Affiliation:
Institute for Fiscal Studies
*
E-mail: Rowena_C@ifs.org.uk
gemma_t@ifs.org.uk
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Abstract

This paper looks at some of the key fiscal questions related to Scottish independence, drawing on detailed analysis of household survey data, official data on public spending and revenues, and using a model of the UK and Scotland's public finances over the next half a century. We examine how and why public spending on, and revenues raised from, Scotland differ from the average across the UK, and how Scotland's fiscal position might be expected to evolve over the next 50 years under current policies.

Keywords

Scottish independencefiscal policygenerational accountingE62H62
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 227 , February 2014 , pp. R40 - R53
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

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Footnotes

The authors thank Stuart Adam, Michael Amior, Carl Emmerson, Paul Johnson and David Phillips for comments and advice. We also gratefully acknowledge funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at IFS (grant reference RES-544–28–5001). The ESRC is supporting a programme of work addressing issues around the future of Scotland. One of the strands focuses on supporting new work at current major ESRC investments before and potentially after the referendum. Data from the Labour Force Survey, Family Resources Survey and Living Costs and Food Survey data are distributed by the Economic and Social Data Service. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. The interpretation of the data and any errors are the authors' alone.

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