The traditional concept of a strict minimum of nontaxable income equal for all taxpayers embedded in most current income-tax systems is the result of a paradox of fiscal egalitarianism. The paper shows that substituting the traditional notion of a strict minimum of nontaxable income for a scheme...

All the progress made by the economists who established the theory of welfare, are based on the needs for the progress in engineering that marked out the era of the industrial revolution. All the models that go along with these theories are based on the science of engineering and contributed at...

This paper looks at the integration of regions and nations through the prism of the merger of populations (societies). The paper employs a particular index of social stress. Stylized examples of the merging of two populations suggest that with integration, the social stress index will increase....

Trust is particularly important in online markets to facilitate the transfer of sensitive consumer information to online retailers. In electronic markets, various proposals have been made to facilitate these information transfers. We develop analytic models of hidden information to analyze the...

Large estimates of the benefits of microeconomic reform have been put forward in official studies. By contrast, Quiggin (1997) concludes that benefits of microeconomic reforms have been modest. A key area of disagreement relates to the claim that increased competition leads to increases in...

This article presents two new methodologies for the optimal placement of distributed generation (DG) in an optimal power flow (OPF) based wholesale electricity market. DG is assumed to participate in the real time wholesale electricity market. The problem of optimal placement, including size, is...

This study investigates the rationale behind the 2007 removal of the fodder subsidy in Jordan and the effects this had on livestock owners in the Northern Badia. Furthermore, it examines possible solutions for improving the efficiency of the sector as well as its sustainability. The...

This dissertation involves two set of papers. The first chapter contains a brief introduction of the issues covered in this thesis. In the first set of papers (chapters 2 and 3) I investigate the use of product standards in international trade. Product standards relate to restrictions on the...

Purpose: Reducing carbon emission has been the core problem of controlling global warming and climate deterioration recently. This paper focuses on the optimal carbon taxation policy levied by countries and the impact on firms' optimal production decisions. Design/methodology/approach: This...

The goal of many randomized experiments and quasi-experimental studies in economics is to inform policies that aim to raise incomes and reduce economic inequality. A policy maximizing the sum of individual incomes may not be desirable if it magnifies economic inequality and post-treatment...