The effect of imperfect loss offsetting in corporate and personal tax law is analyzed. In a two-period model with technical uncertainty, the cost of capital is derived taking into account taxes, inflation and risk. Imperfect loss offsetting could raise the cost of capital and deter investment....

Are taxes an important determinant of business activity? If they are, what are the implications for public policy? The four surveys of this volume provide a detailed description of the current state of knowledge for specialists in tax policy. In this essay we develop some of the common themes....

Canadian public-private mixed enterprises are examined in relation to two objectives the government may pursue: the provision of risk capital and the coordination of the technological development of an industry. There may be a role for a government in co-ordinating plans of an industry by...

Corporate tax with interest deductibility may reduce risk taking because entrepreneurs might decrease the amount of investment in risky projects with higher corporate tax rates. Unlike Stiglitz' "Corporation Tax", we allow for decreasing returns to scale and equity financing of capital. We show...

The costs of capital and marginal tax rates are derived in a two period model with technical uncertainty for investments subject to imperfect loss offset corporate and personal taxation. Data based on the experience of Canadian corporations are used to estimate the present value of tax benefits...

Corporate taxation as a means of encouraging risk taking is not required in a stock market economy but would raise social welfare in "farm" economies. If lumpsum transfers are not feasible, a corporate tax should take into account distributional effects of taxing wealth, but, in a stock market...

Corporate tax reform in Canada is considered in relation to the recommendations made by the Carter Report twenty years ago. Carter's recommendations on corporate tax and integration is contrasted to the existing tax system and alternative corporate tax bases. Reform aimed at broadening the...

Spanning conditions are given for an economy where individuals exchange shares of firms indirectly through financial intermediaries rather than directly in stock markets. Allowing for short sales, securities offered by financial intermediaries will span if there are as many linearly independent...