This paper provides an analytical review of the evaluation of alternative time streams of consumption and the closely related concept of time preference. The potential sensitivity of comparisons, especially to the choice of time preference rate and elasticity of marginal valuation, is...

This paper derives analytical expressions for the revenue elasticity of consumption taxes and combined income-consumption tax systems, analogous to those familiar for income taxes. It provides measures of tax revenue elasticities which can readily be applied in practice. Analytical results...

This paper compares the lifetime redistribution and progressivity, within a cohort of males, of two retirement income systems. The current government strategy in Australia is to increase the role of occupational superannuation and maintain a means-tested age pension. The Institute of Actuaries...

It is argued that for many purposes the measurement of inequality should be based on income measured over a longer period than a single year. However, samples of individual earnings over a long period are extremely rare and there are no data on complete lifetime earnings. This survey examines...

This paper examines labor supply and social welfare, following G. W. Lewis and D. T. Ulph (1988), in a model in which individuals gain a utility premium if they raise their net income up to or above a threshold level. It may, thus, be worthwhile for some individuals to avoid poverty by supplying...

A public choice approach is used to examine the level of a tax-financed grant chosen by a cohort, allowing for a wide range of interdependencies, including the government's budget constraint. The existence of an externality is necessary, but not sufficient, for support of a grant. It is shown...

This paper compares a stylized version of a basic income flat tax system (BI/FT) with a means tested graduated tax system (MT/GT), with particular attention paid to potential labor supply effects of taxes. A highly simplified simulation model is developed in which individuals are homogeneous...

This paper reviews several alternative approaches to tax modelling, emphasizing the strengths and limitations of different approaches and types of model along with their potential role in rational policy analysis. The coverage is limited to models of personal direct and indirect taxes. A range...

This paper has two main aims, both associated with measuring the welfare effects of price changes. First, it examines the distributional effects of the change in the indirect tax system in New Zealand during the mid-1980s. Second, it examines the distributional impact of recent inflation in New...