This paper investigates the presence of buoyancy effects in VAT revenue. The projected improvement in economic conditions from 2014 onwards could result in cumulative gains in VAT revenue up to 0.70% of GDP in the period from 2014 to 2016. There is evidence that the intensification of VAT...

This paper studies the optimal taxation between luxury and necessity goods. We set up a three-production-sector neoclassical growth model with inelastic labor supply, and analyze the tax incidence. We find that the two consumption taxes are neutral to economic growth and that the welfare...

Applying difference-in-differences models on representative German survey data empirical evidence is given that the introduction of tuition fees in some German States reduced the propensity of high school graduates to enroll at a university and favored the vocational training option. The...

The aim of this short paper is to empirically test the key hypothesis of the ‘slippery slope' framework, namely: (1) trust (in) and power (of) tax authorities are both necessary to guarantee a high level of tax compliance; (2) the interaction between trust and power, as well as voluntary tax...

This paper estimates the short run effect of the Car Allowance Rebate System (or “Cash for Clunkers†on light vehicle sales within the United States. Using a reduced form demand model of automobiles, I find that the program led to increased sales in July and August, 2009 of between...

Over the past few years a large body of literature has studied the determinants of individual preferences for income equality and redistributive policies. In this paper, using data collected in 2005 by the World Values Survey (WVS), we specifically focus on the preferences expressed by Italians...

In this article, we analyze a state-contingent tax on capital gains. We start by focusing on Auerbach's (1991) retrospective capital gains tax device. Although this system is equivalent to an accrual method from an ex-ante perspective, it is not on an ex-post basis. As recognized by Auerbach,...

Are the Scandinavian countries more redistributive than the US? Given the impression of Scandinavian egalitarianism one may conjecture that they redistribute more, but there is not irrefutable support for this in the literature. In general, the relationship between income inequality and...

We show that lack of commitment in the policymaking process may explain the prevalence of the minimum wage to redistribute income, despite its negative impact on unemployment. In the absence of commitment, firms anticipate the government's willingness to use a minimum wage policy to reduce the...

The paper investigates the implication of mass-media freedom on the level of taxation, using a panel-model approach. The data-set covers the period 2002-2010, including 120 states. The main obtained finding suggests a nonlinear cubic function, with U and inverted U-shapes. Except the minimal...