The proportion of Swiss households that own their home has always been in the vicinity of 30 percent, the lowest proportion in the OECD. Clearly the existing, essentially federal, policy for promoting home ownership has not been very aggressive. A survey allows us to understand what households...

This paper analyzes intersectoral and intertemporal efficiency effects of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 using a general equilibrium model that considers impacts of taxes on the allocation of capital across industries, assets, sectors, and time. The model pays close attention to capital adjustment...

Equity and neutrality are distinct concepts in housing taxation and weak and strong tenure neutrality should be distinguished. When a tax system is tested for those criteria, the taxes paid by landlords must be included, as they affect the rents renters pay. This paper defines appropriate tests,...

Objectives.Models of economic voting have rarely been applied to referendum votes. We fill this gap by testing citizens' voting behavior on environmental policy in relation to their perception of the business cycle and general orientation towards politics. Thus, the study examines the personal,...

In September 2000, 4.7 million Swiss citizens were invited to vote on three proposals for taxes on fossil energy. They differed by tax rate and mode of revenue recycling. All three were rejected, one by only 3.4%. I analyze the votes using individual data of a post-referendum survey. Few voters...

In this paper we explore the efficiency gains from the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and prospective tax reforms, separating out the intersectoral and intertemporal efficiency consequences. To assess these effects, we employ a general equilibrium model that considers the effects of taxes on the...

The Geneva and Zurich housing markets are characterized by high proportions of foreigners and a large share of rental housing. This provides ideal conditions for testing whether foreigners pay more for the same quality of housing than Swiss households and whether flats in neighborhoods with...

The distinction between dual rental systems and unitary rental markets is refined and developed. In particular, unitary rental markets are defined as markets in which barriers to non-profit providers competing on the rental market are removed, reserving the term 'integrated rental markets' for...

The aim of this paper is to compare the use of scientific and perceived noise measures in a hedonic model framework. Although in theory the use of subjective variables is recommended, most of the empirical applications use scientific noise variables. Using three different databases, we are able...

Equity and neutrality are distinct concepts in housing taxation and weak and strong tenure neutrality should be distinguished. When a tax system is tested for those criteria, the taxes paid by landlords must be included, as they affect the rents renters pay. This paper defines appropriate tests,...