This paper presents an overview of recent U.S. fiscal developments and discusses possible implications of the sharp turn around in the government’s fiscal position. Against this back ground, it also reviews key policy challenges that will need to be addressed to cope with the mounting...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that Japan’s external position remains strong. Boosted by investment income, the current account surplus widened in 2006 to nearly 4 percent of Japan’s GDP, despite a shrinking trade balance. Financial outflows also picked up, reflecting...

This paper focuses on the observance of standards and codes on fiscal transparency for Switzerland. The assessment reveals that the fiscal role of the executive and legislative branches of government, and the legal framework for the management of federal public finances, are clearly defined. The...

Previous accounting research shows that taxes affect decision making by individuals and firms. Most studies assume that agents have accurate perception regarding their tax burden. However, there is a growing body of literature analyzing whether taxes are indeed perceived correctly. We review 124...

Previous accounting research shows that taxes affect decision making by individuals and firms. Most studies assume that agents have an accurate perception regarding their tax burden. However, there is a growing body of literature analyzing whether taxes are indeed perceived correctly. We review...

Executive Summary: Iowa offers several tax incentive programs that have been utilized by biofuel producers. The tax credit programs include the Enterprise Zone Program (EZ), the New Jobs and Income Program (NJIP), the New Capital Investment Program (NCIP), and the High Quality Job Creation...

This paper studies the effects of job creation tax credits (JCTCs) enacted by U.S. states between 1990 and 2007 to gain insights about fiscal foresight (alterations of current behavior by forwardlooking agents in anticipation of future policy changes). Nearly half of the states adopted JCTCs...

Proxy structural vector autoregressions (SVARs)identify structural shocks in vector autoregressions (VARs) with external proxy variables that are correlated with the structural shocks of interest but uncorrelated with other structural shocks. We provide asymptotic theory for proxy SVARs when the...