The authors investigate the consequences of imposing additivity on community preferences. They show that there are import ant implications of additive community preferences that are not implied. by the additivity of a single consumer's preferences. In particular, th ey show that imposing...

The article begins by summarizing the arguments that lie behind the use of first-best models and notes the inappropriateness of using these results in what is patently a second-best world. Using several well-known examples from the literature, it is claimed, that if second-best considerations...

This paper explores how to optimally set tax and transfers when taxation authorities : (1) are uninformed about individuals’ value of time in both market and non-market activities and (2) can observe both market-income and time allocated to market employment. In contrast to much of the optimal...