During the COVID-19 pandemic, states grappled with the question of whether and to what extent to impose restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. We investigate whether state reliance on sales tax revenue, relative to other tax revenue sources, is associated with shorter durations of COVID-19...

Several cities in the U.S. have implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in an attempt to improve public health and raise revenue. On July 1, 2017, Oakland, California introduced a tax of one cent per ounce on SSBs. In this paper, we estimate the impact of the tax on retail prices,...

How important is the enforcement of political rights in new democracies? We use the enfranchisement of the emancipated slaves following the American Civil War to study this question. Critical to our strategy, black suffrage was externally enforced by the U.S. Army in ten Southern states during...

In an effort to increase living organ donation, 15 states passed tax deductions and 1 a tax credit to help defray potential medical, lodging and wage loss costs between 2004 and 2008. To assess the impact of these policies on living donation rates, we used a differences-in-differences strategy...

In West Africa, the Value Added Tax (VAT) policy consists of a uniform tax rate, but several items consumed by rich and poor households, are exempted. We provide an optimal tax framework to reflect on the welfare effects of such a tariff structure, in the context of current debates on domestic...

In West Africa, the Value Added Tax (VAT) policy consists of a uniform tax rate, but several items consumed by rich and poor households, are exempted. We provide an optimal tax framework to reflect on the welfare effects of such a tariff structure, in the context of current debates on domestic...

We use new annual data on gasoline taxes and corporate income taxes from U.S. states to analyze whether politicians avoid tax increases in election years. These data contain 3 useful attributes: (1) when state politicians enact tax laws, (2) when state politicians implement tax laws on consumers...

In 2005, the Government of Ontario announced the phase out of the Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporation (LSVCC) tax credit, which will be become effective in 2011. Some media attention has suggested this might lead to difficulty for Ontario entrepreneurs and emerging companies in raising...