This paper derives the tax system and size of government implied by principles of economic efficiency and aversion to the violation of individual rights. The optimal policy equalizes the gains individuals obtain from the governmental activity, relative to what they have a right to in its...

Using the self-selection approach to tax analysis within an OLG framework, the paper examines optimal non-linear labour and capital income taxation and the provision of a durable public good. Under endogenous wages, the marginal tax rules depend on the influence of the tax instruments on...

This paper analyzes the effects of consumption externalities on optimal taxation and on the social cost and optimal levels of public good provision. If public and private goods are Hicksian complements and no lump sum taxes are available, the second-best level of public good provision can exceed...

This paper reviews recent literature on the macroeconomic effects of environmental taxes. It attempts to delineate the conditions under which a cleaner environment is compatible with attaining macroeconomic objectives, such as more employment and economic growth. The analysis reveals that an...

The role of fiscal policy is examined when public goods provide both productive and utility services. In the presence of congestion, the consumption tax is shown to be distortionary. Optimal fiscal policy involves using consumption-based instruments in conjunction with the income tax. An income...

This paper deals with the consequences of the assumption of negatively interdependent preferences for the shape of the optimal nonlinera income tax and the efficient level of public good provision in a setting where the policy maker maximizes an inequality averse social welfare function and the...

This paper introduces an index of tax optimality that measures the distance of a current tax structure from the optimal tax structure in the presence of public goods. In doing so, we derive a [0, 1] number that reveals immediately how far the current tax configuration is from the optimal one...

When a public good is excludable it is possible to charge individuals for using the good. We study the role of prices on excludable public goods using an extension of the Stiglitz-Stern version of the Mirrlees optimal income tax model. Our discussion includes both the case where the public good...

This paper examines the optimal mixed taxation of polluting goods and subsidies for self-protection under nonlinear income tax. The novel contribution of this paper is to take disaster risk into account, the probability which is determined by the total amount of polluting goods consumed by all...

In this paper we examine the desirability of subsidizing child care expenditures in a model where parents can choose both the quantity and the quality of child care services they purchase in the market. Our vehicle of analysis is a Mirrleesian optimal tax framework where child care services not...