We assess whether global social welfare has improved in the last decades despite (or because of) the substantial increase in global population. We use for this purpose a relatively unknown but simple and attractive social evaluation approach called critical-level generalized utilitarianism...

This paper examines optimal redistribution in a model with high- and low-skilled individuals with heterogeneous tastes for labor. We compare the extent to which optimal policies based on different normative criteria obey the principles of compensation (for differential skills) and responsibility...

We analyze tax policies in an intertemporal economy with endogenous fertility under critical-level utilitarianism, both from a positive and a normative standpoint. On the positive side, we analyze the effects of a change in the tax on capital income and on fertility, both separately and combined...

In this paper, we introduce a new family of rank-dependent measures of inequality and social welfare consistent with the equality of opportunity (EOp) principle. The proposed framework can be used to measure long-term as well as short-term EOp, depending on whether we let permanent income or...

This paper examines the optimal entry policy toward oligopoly in a global economy. We show that free entry results in too much competition for the world, but each country's corrective tax policy, unless internationally coordinated, proves suboptimal because of international policy spillovers....

The present article generalizes economic literature on the incidence of consumption taxes to general schedules of consumption taxes dependent on price. Previous studies were limited to the cases of per unit and ad valorem taxes. Three main contributions are made. Methodologically, the elasticity...

This paper studies habit formation in consumption preferences in a dynamic Mirrlees economy. We derive optimal labor and savings wedges based on a recursive approach. We show that habit formation creates a motive for subsidizing labor supply and savings. In particular, habit formation...

The paper studies a federal system where (a) a region provides non-contractible inputs into the social benefits from a public policy project with spillovers to other regions, and (b) where political bargaining between different levels of government may ensure efficient decision making ex post....

This paper analyzes optimal progressive capital income taxation in an infinite horizon model where individuals differ only through their initial wealth. We consider progressive capital income tax schedules taking a simple two-bracket form with an exemption bracket at the bottom and a single...