This paper examines the optimal direction of marginal income tax reform in the context of New Zealand, which recently reduced its top marginal income tax rate to one of the lowest in the OECD. A behavioural microsimulation model is used, in which social welfare functions are defined in terms of...

This paper compares labour supply behaviour under a uniform education voucher system with one involving a means-tested scheme in which the voucher is subject to a taper or withdrawal rate as parental gross income increases. Particular attention is given to the implications of nonlinear budget...

This paper provides a technical introduction to the use of the elasticity of taxable income in welfare comparisons and optimal tax discussions. It draws together, using a consistent framework and notation, a number of established results concerning marginal welfare changes and optimal taxes....