This paper discusses the experience of Croatia in applying, from 1994 to the beginning of 2001, a profit tax that was charged only on equity income in excess of an imputed normal return — and was thus, in essence, an ‘Allowance for Corporate Equity’ (ACE) scheme of the kind advocated by...

Using the self-selection approach to tax analysis, this paper derives a modified Samuelson Rule for the provision of public goods when the government deploys an optimal nonlinear income tax. This approach gives a straightforward interpretation of the central result in this area, generalizes it,...

This paper shows that when--in the manner of the recent targeting literature--the resources available for poverty relief are allocated across heterogeneous groups so as to minimize a "well-behaved" index of aggregate poverty, the optimal response to an increase in the needs of some group may be...

Closer international integration is putting increasing pressure on existing national tax structures. This paper uses a simple two-country model to address a range of consequent policy concerns, focusing particularly on the role of country size. Differences in size exacerbate the inefficiency...

This paper suggests and begins to implement a new approach to the old and troublesome question of who bears the tax burden. The methodology rests on a simple concept of tax payment, enabling one to address issues of public interest while avoiding contentious assumptions on shifting. This...

This paper surveys and assesses British tax reform in the 1980s. On those aspects of efficiency that economists can best measure, the gains seem likely to have been worthwhile but modest. The distributional effects look strikingly small except at the top of the income distribution, where the...

The topics discussed in the Handbook on the Economics of Natural Resources are essential for those looking to understand how best to use and conserve the resources that form the foundation for human well-being. These include nonrenewable resources, modeling of biological resources, conservation...

This paper focuses on two core tax design issues that arise in addressing current fiscal challenges. It first explores the idea, prominent in troubled Eurozone countries, of a "fiscal devaluation": shifting from social contributions to the VAT as a way to mimic a nominal devaluation. Empirical...

This paper explores the role of trade instruments in globally efficient climate policies, focusing on the central issue of whether some form of border tax adjustment (BTA) is warranted when carbon prices differ internationally. It shows that tariff policy has a role in easing cross-country...

Issues of taxation and development, which have long been a central concern of the IMF, have attracted wider and renewed interest in the last few years. This paper reflects on three broad lessons of experience: that developing countries differ vastly in tax matters, and in ways that are less than...