Using simple benchmark models, this paper gives an introductory analysis of three separate policy issues that relate to the taxation of multinational firms: (i) the spread of tax measures that provide discriminatory tax relief to multinational firms; (ii) the switch from the current separate...

In a world where the prospects of a global agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions are bleak, the idea of using trade policy as an implicit regulation of foreign emission sources has gained many supporters in countries contemplating unilateral climate policies. Embodied carbon tariffs tax...

The aim of this paper is to estimate the sensitivity of the natural rate of growth to the actual rate of growth for 15 OECD countries over the period 1961 to 1995, on the hypothesis that the natural rate of growth is not exogenously given. To do this we estimate the natural rate of growth and,...

Until now there exists no consensus view on the determinants of unemployment. Whereas some empirical papers find that mainly labour market institutions explain unemployment, others argue that this correlation is not robust. One explanation for these contradictory results is that labour market...

We study the sustainability of sovereign debt accumulation in 15 OECD countries using quarterly data from 1980 to 2010 with a focus on how and in what countries debt sustainability changed after the commencement of the Euro Convergence Criteria in 1997 as well as after the financial meltdown in...

Wage shares have fallen substantially over the past 25 years. In the Euro area the (adjusted) wage share declined by almost ten percentage points. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the determinants of functional income distribution. IMF (2007a) and EC (2007) find that technological...

Während in Deutschland wieder einmal der Abbau der kalten Progression angemahnt wird, gibt es in vielen anderen Staaten bereits Regelungen zur Vermeidung von inflationsbedingten Steuererhöhungen. Aber welchen genauen Befund liefert ein internationaler Vergleich und welche Einsichten lassen...

The paper investigates how tax rates, corruption and institutional aspects of the labour market influence the size of the segments of the labour market such as unemployment, employment, self-employment and activity in the hidden economy. The novelty of our approach is the theoretical...

The paper exemines the combined effect of the statutory tax rates (especially tax rates on labor) and the level of corruption on the variation of relative tax revenues (their ratio to GDP) in the OECD countries in 2000-2004. The relationship between the interaction of tax rates with corruption...

Previous research provided ambiguous results on the association between average student performance and inequality of opportunity, as measured by the effect of family background on student achievement. In this paper we explore this association distinguishing between inequality of opportunity at...