The term “federalism” does not have a clear meaning: it must be specifically defined in the context in which it will be applied it. Regarding the Italian case, this definition can be found in the Fiscal Federalism Delegation Act (FFDA), Law of 5th May 2009, No. 42 (FFDA), which specifies the...

Revised April 13, 2010The Governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and several other states have recently proposed employer tax credits as measures to fight high unemployment in their states. Such policies are also being considered at the federal level. In the Working Paper, Jeff...

Executive Summary: Iowa offers several tax incentive programs that have been utilized by biofuel producers. The tax credit programs include the Enterprise Zone Program (EZ), the New Jobs and Income Program (NJIP), the New Capital Investment Program (NCIP), and the High Quality Job Creation...

We re-examine the tax-spending nexus using a panel of 50 US state-local government units between 1963 and 1997. We find that, unlike tax revenues, expenditures adjust to revert back to a long-term equilibrium relationship. The evidence on the short-term dynamics is also consistent with the...

The issue of standard costs is at the centre of Calderoli Bill (A.C. n. 2105), which shall implement the article 119 of the Italian Constitution. In this respect, it should be noted that in economics several formulations of the abovementioned concept of standard cost have been proposed, all of...

The issue of standard costs is the subject of the bill Calderoli (A.C. n. 2105), which must be implemented by the article 119 of the Italian Constitution. It should be noted, in this regard, that in economic theory have been proposed several formulations of the concept of standard cost, which...

Market value–based assessment systems introduce objectivity and transparency into the assessment process by partially removing assessors’ bias while benchmarking assessed values against the recently sold properties. This article explores vertical equity of Indiana’s new...

We analyze the incidence of public-employee health benefits. Because these benefits are negotiated through the political process, relevant labor market institutions deviate significantly from the competitive, private-sector benchmark. Empirically, we find that roughly 15 percent of the cost of...