This paper assesses the effects of the changes of the Value Added Tax (VAT) rates in Italy for the period 1988-1997, questioning their overall redistributive impact compared with an equal-revenue proportional tax rate. By using the theory of marginal tax reforms and the AWARETAX microsimulation...

The entrance of Italy in the Euro area in 2001 has given rise to a wide debate about the perception of inflation on households’ well-being. However, most of the debate has involved the measurement of the “correct†consumer price index at national level. Much less analysis has...

This paper reviews the empirical literature concerning the impact of economic integration on the size and the composition of the public budget. From a theoretical perspective, a pessimistic view highlights the threat that economic integration constitutes to the action of the public sector. An...

What is the power of traditional and competitive theories of fiscal federalism in explaining tax assignment at a local level? This article deals with this issue, arguing that both theories fail to properly explain the practice of tax assignment across countries. The author shows that the...

The trade and capital flows across the national borders of developing countries have recently accelerated and produced the conditions for faster transmission of knowledge. While the economic literature has mainly focused on how international technology transfer affects standard economic...

The aim of this paper is to re-examine the relationship between fiscal federalism and the size of local governments. Traditionally, the empirical studies have focused on the different accountability power of grants and local taxes, concluding that the former encourages the growth and the latter...

This paper assesses the relative merits of tax credits for dependent children and child benefits in redistributing income and alleviating poverty in Italy. The main result is that the great emphasis put by Italian policy-makers in designing tax credits in the last 15 years has been mostly...