This paper examines the properties of the optimal nonlinear income tax when preferences are quasilinear in leisure and heterogeneous. Individuals differ in their ability and in their preferences for leisure. The government seeks to redistribute income. It can perfectly observe the level of...

This paper studies the determination of public investment in environmental quality when there are private alternatives. Public investment is chosen by majority voting. When consumption and environmental quality are complementary, one may observe a solution of the type ends against the middle

The European Union consists of a wide variety of welfare states with social insurance schemes ranging from those providing earnings related benefits (Bismarckian) to fat rate benefits (Beveridgean) systems. The conventional wisdom is that with factor mobility poor people have incentives to move...

We study federal economies in which regional governments have responsibility for delivering public services and redistributive objectives apply. The implications of these for the assignment of revenue-raising instruments and fiscal transfers, both vertical and horizontal, are considered. Models...