Analyses of optimal government capital structure generally follow Bohn (1990) and Barro (1995) in assuming risk neutrality or an exogenous risk premium. These analyses usually conclude that the optimal government capital structure stabilizes tax rates over time and states of nature to the...

Privatization generally enhances firm-level efficiency. The impact of privatization on fiscal efficiency has, however, been overlooked. Using the "tax-smoothing" ideas articulated in Barro (1979) and Bohn (1990), we argue that privatization may have an important impact on the welfare losses...