This paper develops a general approach to characterizing optimal income tax and enforcement schemes. The authors' analysis clarifies the nature of the interplay between tax rates, audit probabilities, and penalties for misreporting. In particular, it is shown that, for a variety of objective...

This paper analyzes simultaneous move models of comparison shopping. It shows that the equilibria in Wilde-Schwartz (1979) can be rationalized as symmetric mixed strategies in an appropriately defined game in which information-acquisition costs are endogenous. It also shown that, in the...

This paper analyzes empirically for the years 1980-1988 the factors that led states with state income taxes to run tax amnesty programs. The authors find that the potential yield from an amnesty is more important than the fiscal status of a state. Furthermore, the authors estimate that if the...