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...

The purpose of this paper is to extend the analysis of built-in flexibility to various forms of consumption taxation. This is useful in view of the extensive use of indirect taxes. Section 2 begins with basic definitions and a discussion of income taxation, concentrating on the multi-step case....

This paper decomposes the redistributive effect on annual and lifetime inequality of a range of taxes and transfers in Australia, using a dynamic cohort lifetime simulation model. The model allows for family formation, births of children, labour force participation of male and females, along...

The extent of taxation and redistribution policy is generally determined as a political-economy equilibrium by a balance between those who gain from higher taxes/transfers and those who lose. In a stylized model of migration and human capital formation, we show -- somewhat against the conventi...

The core of the argument offered here is that the trade off between these two choices boils down to a benefit cost calculation rather than a Bergsonian or Arrovian value judgement: i.e., in return for the net benefits which a society obtains from the productive, public good supplying activities...

In this paper, we develop the implications of the view of welfare policies as publicly financed insurance policies that pay benefits relative to contributions in a redistributive manner. With the majority of voters having both redistributive and insurance motives for supporting welfare spending,...

This paper studies the design of redistributive policies between and within the member countries of an economic union.

As a feature of positive redistribution, what incentive causes those with the power of transferring wealth to stop short of extremes in confiscationand even to a degree to serve the interests of the powerless and the wider soviety as a whole? A beginning approach to this problem has been made by...

This paper presents a political economy approach to payroll tax competition between countries adopting different systems of social insurance.

We study time-consistent labor and capital income linear taxation using an infinite-horizon overlapping generations model of a small open economy. In dividuals have different productivities and the government intervenes for purely redistributive purposes. The study of time-consistent taxation...