Resource-rich countries have to manage highly volatile commodity revenues. In periods of revenue booms there is a tendency for large spending scale-ups. When facing large and persistent reductions in commodity prices, some of these countries will need to adjust their budgets to the new reality....

This paper discusses efficiency considerations underlying the widespread exemption of food from sales and value added taxes, in contrast to the distributional considerations usually used to justify them, analyzing the implications for tax policy. Although there are increasing returns in both...

We evaluate efficiency considerations underlying the widespread exemption of food from sales and value added taxes and the implications for tax policy. Household and restaurant meals and both constant and increasing returns cases are examined. Higher taxes on food offset the non-taxation of time...

The Atkinson Report examined measurement of public services' output and productivity. Traditionally, only inputs to the government sector were reflected in the National Accounts. This treatment imposed zero productivity growth for the government sector. From the late 1990s, the United Kingdom...

This review article evaluates the book “Growing the Productivity of Government Services” by Patrick Dunleavy and Leandro Carrera, which examines how government outputs can be measured and how the United Kingdom has strived to improve government productivity. The author finds the book...

This review article evaluates the report Towards Measuring the Volume Output of Education and Health Services: A Handbook produced by the OECD. Traditionally, input costs have been used to estimate the value of education and health services. The Handbook provides detailed analysis and...

This paper discusses efficiency considerations underlying the widespread exemption of food from sales and value added taxes, in contrast to the distributional considerations usually used to justify them, analyzing the implications for tax policy. Although there are increasing returns in both...