This paper reviews the analytical and empirical evidence on certain issues in commodity tax design that have not received much attention. These include the impact on optimal commodity taxes of allowing the following: (i)non linear Engel curves, (ii)Household composition and child subsidy,...

With sufficiently well-reasoned and principled reform of tax systems, it is possible to achieve practical simplicity and a reduction in perverse incentives to a far greater degree than under any of the "flat-rate" proposals being advanced, without significant sacrifice of progressivity. But it...

The paper provides a theory where the size of the inspection authority and the size of the fines evolve endogenously. We find that if a society cannot commit to future taxes it may gain form committing to a small Inland Revenue Service and small punishments for tax evasion. The possibility of...

Two issues are addressed in this paper. First, we attempt to ascertain whether the current fiscal policy in Spain satisfies the intertemporal borrowing constraint. For this purpose, we apply the traditional empirical tests of sustainability proposed in the literature, that pay special attention...

The primary objective of this paper is to analyse the role of evasion possibilities as a determinant of the general structure of commodity and income taxes and of public goods supply. A secondary objective is to provide a defence of differentiated commodity taxes based on the screening role of...

Models of tax competition usually assume a single period framework. This paper sets up a repeated interactions model of tax competition, and establishes conditions under which fiscal policy harmonization can result from repeated interaction between governments. It is shown that fiscal policy...

The paper gives a systematic treatment of equivalent tax systems within an intertemporal framework.

We investigate channels of federally provided income insurance for U.S. States, finding that a major part of federal insurance is provided through transfers. We compare the "bang for the buck" of various fiscal institutions, finding that unemployment benefits are dramatically more efficient in...

Much attention has been given to the impact of fiscal competition on the level of public expenditure, but relatively little to the impact on its composition. Using a broadly familiar and reasonably rich model of fiscal competition in the presence of mobile capital, this paper establishes a...

The problem of this study is to evaluate tax reforms as instruments for raising tax yield in Malawi. The study tests two hypotheses: that the yield of the tax system as a whole, of its major components and of individual taxes, is not buoyant; and that the yield of the tax system as a whole, of...