The optimal audit policy is analysed for an independent revenue service when a social custom exists that rewards honest tax-paying. The implication of the existence of the social custom is that in equilibrium the income level of a taxpayer cannot always be inferred exactly from their report. The...

The Analysis of the determinants of union membership has typically met difficulties with the free-rider problem that union membership is not individually-rational. We assume that workers differ in their reservation wages and hence in their choice of contracts, preventing free-riding on the...

This paper investigates the role of taxation when public goods are privately provided.

The decision of a committee is determined jointly by the voting process it adopts and the composition of its membership. The paper analyses the process through which committee members emerge from the eligible population and traces the consequences of this for the decisions of the committee. It...

In developed countries, car use is one of the most significant contributors to air pollution. It is also a notable fact that larger, heavier cars consume more fuel and hence contribute more to pollution. This observation has lead to policy proposals to structure taxation to encourage the use of...

The analysis of the determination of union membership has typically met difficulties with the fact that union membership is not individually rational and free-riding is the dominant strategy. We assume that workers differ in their reservation wages and hence in their preferred choice of...

The level of economic activity is never measured perfectly because of the problems of definition, inaccuracies in data collection and the existence of the hidden economy. Such mismeasurement implies that government policies based on official statistics can be optimal only by chance. The analysis...

The paper shows how the differing incidence of specific and ad valorem taxation in imperfectly competitive markest can be exploited to control international oligopoly. If countries act cooperatively, the tax instruments used in combination achieve the same outcome, either the first-best or the...