In this paper, we consider how the retirement age as well as a tax financed pension system ought to respond to a change in the standard deviation of the length of life. In a first best framework, where a benevolent government exercises perfect control over the individuals’ labor supply and...

This study reviews the African Region of the World Bank's current thinking on cost sharing and the poor as apllied in Sub-Saharan Africa. It inventories country experiences and Bank activities in cost sharing for education and health, reviews African experiences with the implementation of cost...

Albania provides a small amount of social assistance to nearly 20 % of its population through a system that allows a degree of community discretion in determining distribution. This study investigates the poverty targeting of this program. It indicates that relative to other safety net programs...

The thesis consists of a summary and four papers, concerned with food consumption, behavior associated with overconsumption of food and analysis of the economic policy reforms designed to improve health. <p> Paper [I] estimates a hedonic price model on breakfast cereal, crisp bread and potato...</p>

This paper estimates national economic parameters to be used for project appraisal in Namibia. The shadow prices of capital, labour and foreign exchange are derived. The results suggest that the economic opportunity cost of capital is 7.2%. The economic costs of Namibian labour as a share of...

Adaptation is omnipresent but people systematically fail to correctly anticipate the degree to which they adapt. This leads individuals to make inefficient intertemporal decisions. This paper concerns optimal income taxation to correct for such anticipation-biases in a framework where consumers...

This paper deals with the optimal provision of a state-variable public good in a two-type model, when the consumers have present-biased preferences due to quasi-hyperbolic discounting. The results show that the preference for immediate gratification facing the (mimicking) high-ability type...

This paper is concerned with the modern theory of social cost-bene.t analysis in <p> a dynamic economy. The theory emphasizes the role of a comprehensive, forward- <p> looking, dynamic welfare index within the period of the project rather than that <p> of a project.s long-term consequences. However, what...</p></p></p>

The starting point for this paper is the potential self-control problem underlying the consumption of unhealthy food. The purpose is to analyze public policies, which are designed to correct for the welfare loss associated with such behavior. Contrary to previous studies, our analysis suggests...

This paper concerns international coordination of environmental taxation. The main purpose is to study the global welfare effects that will arise, if there is an agreement between countries to slightly increase their emission taxes. We show that even if each individual country has chosen its...