I use data from the 1994 Consumer Expenditure Survey as well as other sources to measure the distributional impact of green tax reforms and consumption tax reforms using both annual income and lifetime income approaches to rank households. A modest tax reform in which environmental taxes equal...

This paper shows a convenient way to test whether instrumental variables are correlated with individual effects in a panel data set. It shows that the correlated fixed effects specification tests developed by Hausman and Taylor (1981) extend in an analogous way to panel data sets with endogenous...

This paper analyzes the steady state distribution of tax burdens of a Value Added Tax (VAT) in the United States using a lifetime perspective. In contrast to an annual snapshot perspective, I find that a VAT on total expenditures would be proportional over the lifetime. Various modifications to...

I compute the lifetime tax incidence of the major state and local taxes used in the United States during the 1980s. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, I show that over the life cycle, general sales taxes are progressive and equally as progressive as state and local income taxes....

This paper considers ways in which federal tax policy affects municipal asset and debt holdings. The tax treatment of municipal bonds and income creates an arbitrage opportunity for communities to issue tax exempt debt and invest in financial assets. I present evidence that suggests the rules in...

This paper studies the interaction between the federal and state tax systems during the 1980s and in particular considers how the Tax Reform Act of 1986 affected state tax structure. Using a panel data set on state governments over a nine year period, I estimate tax share equations for six...

The federal tax code creates strong incentives for tax arbitrage activity on the part of state governments. This arbitrage activity is illegal and previous research has typically assumed that the constraint against arbitrage activity is binding. This paper explicitly tests this proposition by...

Energy security is the ability of households, businesses, and government to accommodate disruptions in supply in energy markets. This survey considers the economic dimensions of energy security, political and other non-economic security concerns and discusses policy approaches that could enhance...

While carbon pricing, in general, and carbon taxes, in particular, are popular with economists, they are subject to considerable misunderstanding among policy makers and the public. In this paper I consider and refute five myths about carbon taxes: 1) that a carbon price will hurt economic...

More stringent fuel economy standards and increased market penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) present challenges to federal policy makers who historically have relied on motor vehicle fuel excise taxes to fund highway projects. This paper considers the distributional implications of a...