This paper considers the relative efficiency of ad valorem and unit taxes in imperfectly competitive markets. We provide a simple proof that ad valorem taxes are welfare-superior to unit taxes in the short run when production costs are identical across firms. The proof covers differentiated...

We extend the nonparametric literature on partially identified probability distributions and use our analytical results to provide sharp bounds on the impact of universal health insurance on provider visits and medical expenditures. Our approach accounts for uncertainty about the reliability of...

This paper studies how optimal wage tax conclusions from the classic two-period life-cycle model of human capital accumulation are affected by endogenizing the number of taxpaying workers. In the absence of a corrective policy, young individuals underinvest in human capital from a social...

We analyze the incidence of ad valorem and unit excise taxes in an oligopolistic industry with differentiated products and price-setting (Bertrand) firms. Both taxes may be passed on to consumers by more than 100 percent, and an increase in the tax rate can increase short run firm profits (and...

This paper derives simple closed-form identification regions for the U.S. nonelderly population's prevalence of health insurance coverage in the presence of household reporting errors. The methods extend Horowitz and Manski's (1995) nonparametric analysis of contaminated samples for the case...

Using both direct and indirect information about work limitation, this paper constructs and estimates a simultaneous model of "true" work disability, applications for federal disability benefits, and awards. Potential overreporting of work limitation by applicants is treated as a censored-sample...

This paper provides new evidence about the impact of Social Security Disability Insurance on male labor force participation decisions based on estimates from a structural model of applications, awards, and state-contingent lifetime income flows. The lifetime framework makes it possible to...

Recent evidence from Bound et al. (2001) and Black et al. (2003) suggests that reporting errors in survey data routinely violate all of the classical measurement error assumptions. The econometrics literature has not considered the consequences of arbitrary measurement error for identification...

A measure of "true" disability is constructed as a continuous index of unobserved work limitation using information from the Health and Retirement Study. Estimates from a simultaneous model of work participation, disability, and income flows suggest that nonworkers tend to substantially...

Implications of income uncertainty for socially efficient redistribution are examined in a utilitarian framework. Counterintuitively, a policymaker may respond optimally to a negative utility shock in the economy by redistributing income away from those who suffered the shock. Holding expected...