Analysis of property tax records and income tax returns in four California counties (used to measure differentials related to Proposition 13 assessment provisions) indicates that less mobile (elderly and lower income) homeowners tended to benefit most.

This paper explores the causes and consequences of Proposition 13, focusing on its effects on horizontal equity among homeowners, household mobility, and the fiscal structure of state and local government. Horizontal inequities arise because a household's property tax liability depends on the...

The National Tax Association’s project on the taxation of telecommunications and electronic commerce recommended that each state employing a sales and use tax consider adopting a single statewide rate rather than continue with the number of rates currently in use. This recommendation was made...

Few studies have examined the use and effects of real property transfer taxes, especially in the U.S. This paper examines the variety of transfer tax programs currently in use in the U.S. and compares them to property taxes in terms of equity, efficiency, and revenue potential and stability. The...

The default model of economic choice--used in economics instruction and in the bulk of scholarship in microeconomics--assumes that decision makers are selfish. As shown by behavioral scientists, this assumption is consistent with chimpanzee behavior, but inconsistent with human behavior. Unlike...

As demonstrated in experiments by biologists and anthropologists, chimpanzees behave in a manner consistent with two key assumptions of economics--selfish behavior and independent decision-making. In contrast, human behavior is sometimes inconsistent with the assumptions: humans are inclined to...