The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more extensive reform programs. We argue that the heart of...

Within the framework given by the theory of optimal income taxation this paper investigates the progressivity of the Swedish income tax. On the assumption that taxes distort labour leisure choice some tax reforms are designed that improve social welfare while keeping tax revenues unchanged. The...

This paper analyses a growth model wherein saving results from bequestas-consumption. It first looks at the market equilibrium and at the optimal solution. Then it turns to the issue of decentralizing the optimal solution with various taxes and transfers. Depending on the available instruments,...

This paper establishes, in the context of the Diamond (1965) overlapping generations economy with production, that the risk that savings in unbacked assets (like fiat money or public debt) become worthless implies that, not only the first-best steady state, but even the best steady state...

I show in this paper that in an overlapping generations economy with production à la Diamond (1970) in which the agents can only save in terms of capital (i.e. with no asset bubbles à la Tirole (1985) or public debt as in Diamond (1965)), there is a period-by- period balanced fiscal policy...

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the Disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more extensive reform programs.

This paper analyses a growth model wherein saving results from bequest-as-consumption. It first looks at the market equilibrium and at the optimal solution. Then it turns to the issue of decentralizing the optimal solution with various taxes and transfers. Depending on the available instruments,...

This study investigates whether excess effort to climb a career ladder justifies policy interventions. The answer depends on whether the government is able to levy a higher tax burden on career workers than on non-career workers. Both a tax on top income aimed at lowering the rewards of...

This study tests whether the strong double dividend hypothesis holds within a setting where a uniform tax on green house gas emissions is raised above the international quota price within the Norwegian economy. The hypothesis does not hold within a framework where detailed technology choices...

The achievements and limitations of the classical theory of optimal labor-income taxation based on social welfare functions are now well known, although utilitarianism still dominates public economics. We review the recent interest that has arisen for broadening the normative approach and making...