We consider an economy where individuals face uninsurable risks to their human capital accumulation, and study the problem of determining the optimal level of linear taxes on capital and labor income together with the optimal path of the debt level. We show both analytically and numerically that...

We study optimal income taxation and public debt policy in a neoclassical economy populated by infinitely-lived households and a benevolent government. The government makes sequential decisions on the provision of a valued public good, on income taxation and the issue of public debt. We...

We study the dynamic Ramsey problem of finding optimal public debt and linear taxes on capital and labor income within a tractable infinite horizon model with incomplete markets. With zero public expenditure and debt, it is optimal to tax the risky labor income and subsidize capital, while a...

This paper investigates the trade-off between growth and distribution in open economies. In closed economies redistribution seems to reduce growth. I show that in open economies tax competition leads redistributing (left-wing) governments to mimic 'right-wing' policies if capital mobility is...

This paper studies a model of optimal redistribution policies in which agents face unemployment risk and in which savings may provide partial self-insurance. Moral hazard arises as job search effort is unobservable. The optimal redistribution policies provide new insights into how an...

In an infinite-horizon, endogenous growth model a capital income cum investment subsidy tax is considered to investigate if distribution of income towards the non-accumulated factor of production (labour) retards growth and if capital income taxes are bad instruments to finance investment...

Many theoretical model show that redistribution causes low growth. However, cross-country regressions often suggest that growth is positively related to redistribution. This paper analyzes that puzzle in an open economy framework.

The theory of tax smoothing and determination of public debt with uncertain future national income is extended for prudence. A prudent government deliberately underestimates future national income and the tax base, especially if the variance and persistence of shocks hitting the tax base are...

Almost unknown in 1960, the value added tax (VAT) is now found in more than 130 countries, raises around 20 percent of the world’s tax revenue, and has been the centerpiece of tax reform in many developing countries. This paper explores the causes and consequences of the remarkable rise of the...

In endogenous growth models with a capital spillover, the market outcome is not Pareto efficient since agents ignore the positive externalities caused by investment. This makes it natural to conclude that taxes on investment or subsidies to consumption will impose first order welfare costs. In...