Using data from the financial statements of Ontario Hydro and an observed cost of importing electricity to the province, we provide an estimate of the hydroelectric rent that is potentially available in Ontario as tax revenue. Our results suggest that the existing water charges in Ontario can be...

Do progressive marginal income tax rates discourage self-employment? We assume risk neutrality to construct an implicit surtax on stochastic income relative to steady income, arising from a convex tax schedule. It is computed as part of a structural probit model with earnings equations and a tax...

We examine restructuring, divestiture, and deregulation of a vertically integrated public utility, (e.g., electricity), from a public finance perspective. How an optimal restructuring plan for the utility depends on the cost of public funds and on the X-efficiency gains from privatization, how...

The principal aim of our paper is to provide a primer on the foundations of the theory of intergovernmental grants, suitable for newcomers to this active field of research. In addition, we provide a selective survey of recent theoretical papers on grants, focusing particularly on non-cooperative...

In this paper we examine the optimal taxation of corporate profits in a multi-period limit pricing model where a dominant firm faces expansion by a competitive fringe. The optimal policy requires tax rates to vary both intertemporally and across firm sizes, and balances the benefit of fringe...

We develop a general equilibrium model of crime in which honest workers face an effective tax rate on earnings, consisting of an exogenous income tax, used to pay for policing, and an endogenous crime tax, given by the proportion of their disposable income that is stolen. When there are two...