In the centrally financed public education system of Australia, interstate differences in per student educational spending have been interpreted as measures of efficiency. An alternative explanation is that the variation reflects differences in citizen preference. An analysis of a survey of...

We characterise a model in which states engage in tax and policy competition with one another to attract mobile capital. The mix of policies chosen is shown to depend on the interaction between a desire to exploit capital for the benefit of domestic residents (labour) and a net marginal...

Section 90 of the Australian Constitution gave the power to impose excise duties exclusively to the commonwealth. Sometimes it is argued that the founders were motivated by a concern to ensure free interstate trade. The authors show that Section 90 may have reduced interstate trade distortions...

We model a federation where States levy a tax on the wage income of mobile citizens who shop between States for their preferred tax and public policy package. It is shown that competition between States results in efficient State spending but that the taxes on wage income are inefficient in the...