We develop a political economy model of intergovernmental transfers. Vertical fiscal balance occurs in a federation when the ratio of the marginal benefit of the public services provided by the federal and provincial governments is equal to their relative marginal costs of production. With...

This paper examines the role of institutions of territorial representation in shaping long-term patterns of inter-regional redistribution within federations. A simple legislative bargaining model with endogenous taxation suggests that over-represented states should be favored in the distribution...

Why so many people pay their taxes, although fines and audit probability are low, has become a central question in the tax compliance literature. Concepts of Homo Economicus, endowed with a more refined motivation structure, help to shed light on the tax compliance puzzle. This paper provides...

This paper discusses the methodology for the calculation of federal fiscal flows in a federation and the measurement of interregional redistribution. It identifies five major steps: (a) the selection of the approach for calculating federal fiscal flows, (b)the allocation of federal revenues and...

One challenge states face in designing an income tax system is deciding how to treat non-resident earners. Numerous states have entered into reciprocity agreements with other states that exclude non-residents’ income from the tax base. These agreements provide a unique opportunity to explore...

We evaluate a program that introduced bilingual education in English and Spanish in primary education in some public schools of the Madrid region in 2004. Under this program students not only study English as a foreign language but also some subjects (at least Science, History and Geography) are...

Online review aggregators (e.g., booking.com or ClubKviar) provide detailed information about experience goods, such as restaurants and hotels. This study fosters the understanding of how such aggregators modify competition, profits and welfare. Using a spokes model of horizontal competition, I...

This paper analyses the impact of terrorism on tax enforcement policies by focusing on the case of the Basque Country. The presence of externalities in tax administration attributable to the costs of terrorism is investigated by undertaking a theoretical analysis. The findings of this are tested...

This is a review of the so-called "Optimal tax systems" approach to the economic analysis of taxation. This approach acknowledges the bunch of instruments the public sector has to collect revenues, but also the multiple responses of taxpayers to them. In a way, this is a more realistic approach...

Portuguese and Spanish universities have adopted well-defined royalty sharing schedules during the last fifteen years. We investigate whether these inventor royalty shares have been effective at stimulating inventors’ efforts and ultimately improving university outcomes. We base our empirical...