Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal最新文献

{"title":"Policy Rules in Times of Prolonged Crisis: Quantitative Easing Abroad and Fiscal Adjustment at Home","authors":"P. McNelis","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3187182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3187182","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the international transmission of real and financial shocks which originate in, and are partially offset by, quantitative easing in a large financially-stressed country. Using a two-country model, we evaluate the adjustment in the non-stressed foreign country, following recurring negative shocks (to productivity or financial net worth or both), and the application of QE policies in the stressed country. We find that the non-stressed country can make effective use of tax-rate changes to stabilize asset prices, consumption and investment during the crisis pe-riod abroad, if the crisis is generated by productivity shocks or financial shocks, or both. The tax-rate regime in the non-stressed country works best, by generating positive externalities for the stressed country in the face of recurring productivity shocks. Under recurring financial net-worth shocks, the benefit ts of the tax-rate regime are less global, and more local, more confined to the non-stressed country.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121276078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The 1974 Budget Act's Impact on U.S. Spending and Debt: A Synthetic Control Study","authors":"Massimiliano Ferraresi, G. Gucciardi, Leonzio Rizzo","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3195283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3195283","url":null,"abstract":"The 1974 Budget Act marked a turning point in U.S. budgeting history. With the Act, Congress decisively asserted its fiscal power, becoming more independent from the President in developing the budget and appropriating funds. Lawmakers at the time believed that the status quo, wherein Congress approved the budget in a piecemeal fashion, improperly limited their authority. \u0000While rising deficits and debts put pressure on Washington to restrain them, the President’s most direct method for cutting spending – impoundment – caused the conflict between Congress and the President that boiled over and led to the Budget Act. \u0000In this paper, we set out to discover how this compromise, the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (or 1974 Budget Act), ultimately impacted spending and debt. More specifically we use a synthetic control model to test the alternative – what would have happened without the Act? \u0000In short, we find that after 1974, public debt-to-GDP and public expenditures-to-GDP both increased, but less than what they would have without it. Section 2 outlines the Institutional framework, Section 3 describes the empirical methodology, Section 4 discusses the data sample and the empirical strategy Section 5 describes the results, Section 6 discusses broad implications for modern reformers, and the Appendix shows the placebo tests which give robustness to synthetic control analysis.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"104 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115536926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anti-Avoidance Regulatory Policy for International Transfer Pricing and Excess Debt Financing","authors":"J. Kudła","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3169976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3169976","url":null,"abstract":"Multinational companies can use transfer pricing and thin capitalization (excess debt financing) to reduce the amount of taxes paid in each jurisdiction. Governments try to counteract these anti-avoidance strategies by using tax policy rules. Since the means reducing the both types of activities are different, the question is whether they should fight these phenomena to the same extent or maybe they should concentrate only on the one of them. The last policy could be appropriate if one of the strategies has strong impact on the second. Using the simple economic model one can show that these two phenomena may coexist, especially when there are large differences in taxation between countries. It means that an effective anti-avoidance tax policy should use both types of law constraints. However, due to the higher requirements for transfer pricing vehicle the limitation of excessive debt use can be more effective than the restriction imposed on misuse of transfer pricing.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124019917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Targeting Policy-Compliers with Machine Learning: An Application to a Tax Rebate Programme in Italy","authors":"Monica Andini, Emanuele Ciani, G. de Blasio, Alessio D'Ignazio, V. Salvestrini","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3084031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3084031","url":null,"abstract":"Machine Learning (ML) can be a powerful tool to inform policy decisions. Those who are treated under a programme might have different propensities to put into practice the behaviour that the policymaker wants to incentivize. ML algorithms can be used to predict the policy-compliers; that is, those who are most likely to behave in the way desired by the policymaker. When the design of the programme is tailored to target the policy-compliers, the overall effectiveness of the policy is increased. This paper proposes an application of ML targeting that uses the massive tax rebate scheme introduced in Italy in 2014.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"136 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127128424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Características Distributivas e Impacto de Reformas Tributárias Sobre o Bem-Estar das Famílias no Brasil (Distributive Characteristics and Impact of Tax Reforms on Household Welfare in Brazil)","authors":"Pollyana Jucá Santana, Rozane Bezerra de Siqueira, J. Nogueira","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3062573","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3062573","url":null,"abstract":"<b>Portuguese Abstract:</b> Este trabalho calcula as características distributivas dos bens e serviços consumidos pelas famílias no Brasil, usando a POF 2008-2009, e utiliza essa informação para elaborar propostas alternativas de reforma tributária indireta. O impacto das reformas sobre o bem-estar é avaliado usando o conceito de “variação equivalente” e o sistema de demanda quase ideal na forma quadrática (QUAIDS). Os resultados mostram que os três itens de consumo familiar com características distributivas mais elevadas são combustível doméstico, fumo e cesta básica de alimentos, e os três itens com características distributivas mais baixas são combustível automotivo, bebidas alcoólicas e transporte privado. As reformas baseadas nas características distributivas são progressivas, sendo que a mais progressiva resulta em um aumento de bem-estar das famílias mais pobres equivalente a um aumento de 8,2% no seu consumo, e em uma perda de bem-estar para as famílias mais ricas equivalente a uma redução de 5,6% no seu consumo. <b>English Abstract:</b> The present work estimates the distributive characteristic of goods and services consumed by Brazilian families as reported in POF 2008-09 and uses this information to design alternative indirect tax reform proposals. The impact of the reforms on welfare is assessed using the equivalent variation concept and the quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS). The results show that the three consumption goods with the highest distributive characteristics are domestic fuel, tobacco and basic food, and the three consumption goods with the lowest distributive characteristics are automotive fuel, alcoholic beverages and private transport. All reforms based on the distributive characteristics are progressive, with the most progressive of them resulting in a welfare gain to the poorest families equivalent to a 8.2% rise in their consumption, and in a welfare loss to the richest families equivalent to a 5.6% decrease in their consumption.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128332412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating Tax Culture of the Tax Payers of the Iranian Tax Administration","authors":"Sorush Niknamian","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3789764","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3789764","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to investigate the tax culture of tax payers in the Iranian Tax Administration. This was an applied-descriptive survey study. The statistical population was divided into three groups according to the share of tax revenue in 2017 and 12 provinces from 31 provinces selected by cluster and quota sampling. The sample size was calculated using the Cochran formula for a large population of 690 people for each group. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by the experts and the construct validity was verified by factor analysis. The reliability of the questionnaires was also calculated using Cronbach's alpha (0.925). The data were analyzed using correlation coefficient, mean test and factor analysis using the Structural Equation Modeling in LISREL. The results showed that each of the components of the tax culture of the tax payers was higher than satisfactory.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128301659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taxation Without Representation? Experimental Evidence from Ghana and Uganda on Citizen Action Toward Taxes, Oil, and Aid","authors":"Brandon de la Cuesta, H. Milner, D. Nielson, Stephen F. Knack","doi":"10.1596/1813-9450-8137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-8137","url":null,"abstract":"Seminal arguments in political economy hold that citizens will more readily demand accountability from governments for taxes than for non-tax revenue from oil or aid. Two identical experiments on large, representative subject pools in Ghana and Uganda probe the effects of different revenue types on citizens' actions to monitor government spending. Roughly half of all subjects willingly sign petitions and donate money to scrutinize all three sources. However, neither Ghanaians nor Ugandans are more likely to take action for tax revenues than for oil or aid. The results also suggest no differences among taxes, oil, and aid in citizens' perceptions of transparency, misappropriation risk, or public goods provision. The results are robust to several alternative specifications and subgroup partitions, including the better educated, wealthier, and taxpaying population, suggesting a need for rethinking the axiom that taxation strengthens citizens' demands for accountability in developing countries.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129259327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ex-Ante or Ex-Post? Oversight and Parliamentary Budget Offices","authors":"Usman W. Chohan","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2955623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2955623","url":null,"abstract":"Oversight can be conducted in an Ex-ante or Ex-post manner. This discussion paper considers whether the contribution of Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs) can be Ex-ante, Ex-post, or both. It further delineates how the process can be carried out in either manner and to what ends, while recognizing that differences in the legislative oversight environment will have consequences on the mandate that a PBO can exercise.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"108 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133854702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Governments and Promised Fiscal Consolidations: Do They Mean What They Say?","authors":"S. Gupta, José Tavares, Carlos Mulas-Granados, Michela Schena","doi":"10.5089/9781475581133.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475581133.001","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyses the causes and consequences of fiscal consolidation promise gaps, defined as the distance between planned fiscal adjustments and actual consolidations. Using 74 consolidation episodes derived from the narrative approach in 17 advanced economies during 1978 – 2015, the paper shows that promise gaps were sizeable (about 0.3 percent of GDP per year, or 1.1 percent of GDP during an average fiscal adjustment episode). Both economic and political factors explain the gaps: for example, greater electoral proximity, stronger political cohesion and higher accountability were all associated with smaller promise gaps. Finally, governments which delivered on their fiscal consolidation plans were rewarded by financial markets and not penalized by voters.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121930449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Accounting for Behavioral Considerations in Business Tax Reform: The Case of Expensing","authors":"Lily L. Batchelder","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2904885","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2904885","url":null,"abstract":"One of the fundamental questions in business tax reform is whether to allow firms to immediately expense investments or require economic cost recovery. The conventional view is that expensing would generate stronger growth effects holding revenues constant. This view is rooted in traditional models of corporate finance that assume firms look at the net present value of expected tax payments when incorporating taxes into investment decisions. But this traditional view ignores the possibility that firms focus on more salient measures of taxes as well. If so, they may respond less to expensing than this theory suggests because expensing does not lower their financial accounting tax liability and, all else equal, requires a higher statutory rate.This paper considers whether firms undervalue expensing due to a focus on these non-economic tax metrics and, if so, what this implies about business tax reform if the goal is to increase US investment. It develops a framework for what cost recovery rules are optimal, and then uses new and existing data to parameterize this framework, holding constant long-run revenues and the relative tax treatment of debt and equity. While the empirical evidence is still nascent, it tentatively concludes that applying economic cost recovery to public and very large companies in order to pay for a lower statutory tax rate would generate more US investment and growth than expensing — reducing the relevant tax rate on such companies by more than two percentage points estimated conservatively, and possibly by much more. This estimate is sensitive to the underlying empirical parameters and could easily change. But it does cast doubt on the conventional view that expensing would generate much more US investment and growth than the alternatives. It also contrasts with estimates by non-partisan Congressional staff that expensing as part of a business cash-flow tax would generate modestly higher growth, and with far more dramatic positive growth estimates by some prominent think tanks.","PeriodicalId":403078,"journal":{"name":"Public Economics: Fiscal Policies & Behavior of Economic Agents eJournal","volume":"2 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132894157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}