A tax on gross assets has been introduced in some developing countries where several factors (most notably, high inflation) enabled apparently viable enterprises to report losses for income tax purposes. The idea of a tax on the value of assets, rather than on the income that the assets...

The globalization of economic activities that is characterizing many economies raises questions about the future of the nation state. This paper discusses this trend and shows that cross-frontiers spillovers have become more frequent and have increased the need for international agreements and...

Corruption is attracting a lot of attention around the world. The paper surveys and discusses issues related to the causes, consequences, and scope of corruption and possible corrective actions. It emphasizes the costs of corruption in terms of economic growth. It also emphasizes that the fight...

This paper discusses the fundamental determinants of inequality. These are identified as world or market forces, social norms, ownership of real and human capital, and the role of government. The change in the relative role of these factors in determining inequality during economic development...

The paper discusses some channels through which corruption affects growth such as the impact of corruption on enterprises, on the allocation of talent, and on investment. It also discusses the impact of corruption on some aspects of public finance

Deepening globalization and associated or parallel technological and institutional developments are creating conditions which may reduce the industrial countries’ ability to sustain high levels of taxation. The paper identifies and discusses eight trends which may generate revenue falls. It...

Corruption, particularly political or “grand” corruption, distorts the entire decision-making process connected with public investment projects. The degree of distortions is higher with weaker auditing institutions. The evidence presented shows that higher corruption is associated with (i)...

This paper discusses in a systematic and comprehensive way the existing literature on the relationship between the growth of countries’ economies and various public finance instruments, such as tax policy, expenditure policy, and overall budgetary policy, from the perspectives of allocative...

This paper discusses issues to be considered in designing “second generation” reforms. These reforms should focus on improving the capacity of the public sector to implement economic policies. The paper contrasts these reforms with those known as first generation reforms, which essentially...

Social protection in industrial countries has been provided through regulations, tax expenditures, and public spending. This paper argues that globalization will affect governments’ ability to continue providing this social protection at the level of recent decades. Specifically, tax...