The Becker proposition (BP) is one of the founding pillars of the modern literature on Law and Economics. It states that it is optimal to impose the severest possible punishment (to maintain effective deterrence) at the lowest possible probability (to economize on enforcement costs). The BP is...

In a recent, 58 page, paper, Hashimzade, Myles and Tran-Nam (2009) "New Approaches to the Economics of Tax Evasion" survey alternative approaches to tax evasion. Their central conclusion is, in their own words (p. 56): "What they [the non-expected utility models] do not do is change the...