Analyzes the impact of property tax reform in Pittsburgh (1979-1980), which dramatically increased the tax rate applied to land (but not structures). Explores the impact of this tax reform on the economic development of the city.

The constitutionality of public school finance systems has been challenged in 43 states in the 25 years since the landmark Serranodecision. Using data on revenues from more than 16,000 school districts over the 1972-1992 period, this article assesses the impact of court-mandated reform on the...

School officials and policymakers have grown increasingly concerned about their ability to attract and retain talented teachers. A number of authors have shown that in recent years the brightest students-at least those with the highest verbal and math scores on standardized tests-are less likely...

The window tax provides a dramatic and transparent historical example of the potential distorting effects of taxation. Imposed in England in 1696, the tax—a kind of predecessor of the modern property tax—was levied on dwellings with the tax liability based on the number of windows. The tax...