All fifty states in the United States provide property tax preferences for agricultural land via some form of use-value assessment. By this assessment approach agricultural land is valued in its current agricultural use, not at its full market value. The intent of this policy is to provide a...

In this paper I examine the determinants of the user cost of housing, including house price inflation expectations and tax policy. I derive estimates of the user cost of housing for several U.S. metropolitan areas over the period 1995-2008 and I decompose those estimates into user cost component...

Business operations in transition countries are subject to numerous obstacles. This study uses enterprise-level data collected by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to analyze which potential obstacles are the greatest impediments and how firm and/or...

Misallocation of land resources can be a substantial hindrance to economic development in a developing or transition economy. If access to land resources is limited by the government or if the ability to gain appropriate permits to use the land is subject to delays, required bribes, or...

Public policy designed to encourage home ownership has operated primarily through the federal income tax system in the United States. With multiple incentives for home-ownership, the income tax system is the main tool by which the federal government encourages families to become home-owners and...

Tax bribes are a very real part of the tax culture in transition countries. Economic transition, fiscal reforms, and efforts to strengthen tax administration are changing the tax cultures of transition countries, however. This paper examines firm-level survey data on the frequency of firms being...

This paper reports the first empirical evidence that fiscal reform efforts in transition countries have positive effects. Using the EBRD BEEPS I and II data, reported in 1999 and 2002, rigorous econometric models are estimated showing that the share of bribes paid to tax collectors is reduced in...

This paper examines citizen trust in government, willingness to pay taxes, and desire for redistribution in transition countries. A theoretical model of trust in government is developed explaining willingness to pay (WTP) for public goods and empirical models are estimated for improved public...

This paper employs an extensive household survey data set covering a wide range of transition countries to empirically characterize the housing choices of households. The paper provides a descriptive overview of the types of dwellings, housing tenure, mode of acquisition, and mortgage prevalence...

This paper examines citizen trust in social institutions, including government, and the impact of the 2008-2009 global economic crisis in transition countries. Empirical models are estimated that explain how the crisis affected trust in institutions, including the presidency, government/cabinet...