Using state level U.S. data from 1994-2009, this research examines the impact of the Internet on cigarette demand and discusses resulting implications for tax policy. Results show that the Internet increases the demand price elasticity of cigarettes, which limits the ability of governments to...

This paper provides a recent look at global smoking trends across population subgroups for a large sample of countries. Attention to international aspects has been scarce in the literature. The prevalence of various smoking control policies across different country groups is discussed. The level...

This article develops a theoretical model and employs recent state-level data on highway finance to assess the consequences of using highway levies for non-highway purposes. It examines whether states that divert some of their highway-related levies to fund general government services spend...

We apply a standard specification of the causes of corruption to a large sample of countries to investigate the effect of internet awareness about corruption on prevalence and perceptions of corruption. The main hypothesis is that greater corruption awareness acts as a corruption deterrent. A...

This research examines the influence of government decentralization on corruption in the United States. Previous research has focused primarily on fiscal decentralization. We address whether the structure of local governments — measured in terms of the scope of services offered and the...

Using annual state-level data over 1983-87, this paper examines the effect of government size on corruption by public officials by including both demand and supply side incentives for engaging in corrupt practices. The authors' objectives are twofold. First, they assess the relationship between...

Individual preference for public goods and tax regimes are modeled in a utility-maximizing framework and the implications of the model are explored within the context of a median voter process. It is demonstrated that excise taxes, judiciously selected, may offer a political majority an...

Federal income tax enforcement varies greatly across individual states. While it is not known if this interstate variation enhances efficiency, anecdotal evidence suggests it does not. In this paper, the authors apply the model of B. R. Weingast and M. Moran (1983) to the treasury and explore...