In this paper, the authors propose a method to identify commodity-tax changes that will be favored by all individuals who can agree on certain weak assumptions with regard to the social-welfare function. The method is based on an extension of the criterion of second-degree stochastic dominance...

An optimal linear world income tax that maximizes a border-neutral social welfare function provides a drastic reduction in world consumption inequality, dropping the Gini coefficient from 0.69 to 0.25. In contrast an optimal decentralized (i.e., within countries) redistribution has miniscule...

Tax avoidance and evasion are pervasive in all countries, and tax structures are undoubtedly skewed by this reality. Standard models of taxation and their conclusions must reflect these realities.This paper first presents theoretical models that integrate avoidance and evasion into the overall...