This article compares the effects of the standard fixed-payment mortgage instrument (SMI) and the graduated-payment mortgage instrument on an individual's housing decisions in an inflationary environment. Using a simulation model of life-cycle consumer choice, the results with the SMI suggest...

This article uses information on the actual conditions in all states over the extended period 1978 to 1990 to estimate the probability of tax and expenditure limitation (TEL) passage in state elections. This probability is a function of economic, fiscal, demographic, and political factors in the...

Does government concealment of its audit policies increase or decrease taxpayer compliance? This article analyzes the impact of uncertainty about government audit policies on compliance using a game-theoretic model. The taxpayer is assumed to possess private information about his or her income,...

This article examines the optimal structure of intergovernmental grants, using a model that extends the theories of optimal taxation and production to a federal system. The theoretical model assumes a two-tiered system of state and federal governments, with the federal government choosing grants...

A new perspective on financial repression has recently been developed that stresses the public finance aspects of this policy. In this view, financial repression is seen as an implicit tax that generates "benefits" for government in the form of substantial amounts of government revenues,...

This article examines some unexplored and unresolved issues surrounding the Abstract impact of tax amnesties on tax revenues. The results indicate that amnesties can have a positive impact on compliance and tax collections, if the amnesty makes individuals see that paying taxes is the norm and...

Does government concealment of its audit policies increase or decrease taxpayer compliance? This article analyzes the impact of uncertainty about government audit policies on compliance using a game-theoretic model. The taxpayer is assumed to possess private information about his or her income,...

Individuals with income not reported to the tax authority by a third party (e.g., the self-employed, those earning tips) may be less likely to be detected evading taxes relative to the case in which their income is subject to third-party reporting. However, their compliance responses—to...

In this article, the authors examine the impact on the salaries of free agents in Major League Baseball (MLB) of differences in state and local individual income taxes between major league cities, in an attempt to see if income taxes affect player salaries. This basic specification suggests that...

This paper examines the effect of "empathy" and "sympathy" on tax compliance. We run a series of laboratory experiments in which we observe the subjects' decisions in a series of one-shot tax compliance games presented at once and with no immediate feedback. Importantly, we employ methods to...