We here expand the static tax competition models in symmetric small regions, which were indicated by Zodrow and Mieszkowski (1986) and Wilson (1986), to a dynamic tax competition model in large regions, taking consideration of the regional asymmetry of productivity of public capital and the...

In order to overcome the incentive of excessive maintenance reductions and insufficient network investments in incentive regulation of electricity distribution companies, regulators throughout Europe have started regulating quality of service in the energy sector. In this paper, we discuss the...

Chenery’s factor decomposition method is used to analyse the sources of growth, by sector, in South Africa from 1970 to 2007. Using input-output data, the growth of each sector is decomposed into components associated with export growth; import substitution; growth in domestic demand; and...

This paper examines the effects of firm-level innovation in carbonabatement technologies on optimal cap-and-trade schemes with and without price controls. We characterize optimal cap-and-trade regulation with a price cap and price floor, and compare it to the individual cases of pure taxation...

There is a public perception that electricity liberalisation is the major cause of recent electricity blackouts. This is reflected in the newspaper reporting of blackouts. By contrast, it was not listed as a cause in any official investigation reports. In this paper, we examine the common causes...

This paper develops a methodology and uses household and labour survey data to analyse the extent of intersectoral outsourcing of the employment of specific labour-intensive activities in South Africa from 1997-2007. It is shown that the relatively high growth in services employment is driven by...

In 2003, the UK `liberalised' its telephone directory enquiries service with the aim of introducing competition so as to improve quality and lower costs. Unfortunately the results did not match expectations. Proliferation of numbers led to consumer confusion and high price firms with no...

A key issue in the design of a legal system is the choice of the mechanism aggregating preferences over the level of deterrence. While under Case law appellate judges’ biases offset one another at the cost of volatility of precedents, under Statute law the Legislator chooses certain rules that...

Domestic climate policies play an important part in shifting countries towards a low-carbon development trajectory. Six case studies explore the domestic drivers and barriers for policies with climate (co-)benefits in developing countries. International support can help to overcome these...

(In)direct network effects arise frequently in economic models but, for reasons of analytical tractability, are often assumed to be linear. Here, we examine the general non-linear case with two platforms. We establish the conditions characterising equilibria and show that welfare changes can be...