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作者:Berentsen, Aleksander; Bruegger, Esther; Loertscher, Simon
作者单位:University of Melbourne; University of Basel
摘要:We consider an economy with uncertainty about the true production function for a public good. By using Bayes rule the economy can learn from experience. We show that it may learn the truth, but that it may also converge to an inefficient policy where no further inference is possible so that the economy is stuck in an information trap. We also show that our results are robust with respect to small experimentation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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作者:Epple, Dennis; Ferreyra, Maria Marta
作者单位:National Bureau of Economic Research; Carnegie Mellon University
摘要:In 1994 the state of Michigan implemented one of the most comprehensive school finance reforms undertaken to date in any of the states. Understanding the effects of the reform is thus of value in informing other potential reform initiatives. In addition, the reform and associated changes in the economic environment provide an opportunity to assess whether a simple general equilibrium model can be of value in framing the study of such reform initiatives. In this paper, we present and use such a...
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作者:Doyle, Joseph J., Jr.; Samphantharak, Krislert
作者单位:Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; University of California System; University of California San Diego
摘要:There are surprisingly few estimates of the effects of sales taxes on retail prices, especially at the firm level. We consider the temporary suspension, and subsequent reinstatement, of the gasoline sales tax in Illinois and Indiana following a price spike in 2000. Earlier laws set the timing of the reinstatements, providing plausibly exogenous changes in the tax rates. Using a unique dataset of daily prices at the gas-station level, 70% of the tax suspension is passed on to consumers in the f...
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作者:Leeper, Eric M.; Yang, Shu-Chun Susan
作者单位:Indiana University System; Indiana University Bloomington; National Bureau of Economic Research; Academia Sinica - Taiwan
摘要:Neoclassical growth models predict that reductions in capital or labor income tax rates are expansionary when lump-sum transfers are used to balance the government budget. This paper explores the consequences of bond-financed tax reductions that bring forth a range of possible offsetting policies, including future government consumption, capital tax rates, or labor tax rates. Through the resulting intertemporal distortions, current tax cuts can be expansionary or contractionary. The paper also...
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作者:Huber, Bernd; Runkel, Marco
作者单位:University of Munich
摘要:Empirical evidence from the U.S. and the European Union suggests that regions which contribute to interregional redistribution face weaker borrowing constraints than regions which benefit from interregional redistribution. This paper presents an argument in favor of such differentiated budget institutions. It develops a two period model of a federation consisting of two types of regions. The federal government redistributes from one type of regions (contributors) to the other type (recipients)...
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作者:Adams, Scott; Cotti, Chad
作者单位:University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; University of Wisconsin System
摘要:Using geographic variation in local and state smoke-free bar laws in the US, we observe an increase in fatal accidents involving alcohol following bans on smoking in bars that is not observed in places without bans. Although an increased accident risk might seem surprising at first, two strands of literature on consumer behavior suggest potential explanations - smokers driving longer distances to a bordering jurisdiction that allows smoking in bars and smokers driving longer distances within t...
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作者:Chakrabarti, Rajashri
作者单位:Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - New York
摘要:The Milwaukee voucher program, as implemented in 1990, allowed only non-sectarian private schools to participate in the program. Following a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, the program saw a major shift and entered into its second phase, when religious private schools were allowed to participate for the first time in 1998. This led to more than a three-fold increase in the number of private schools and almost a four-fold increase in the number of choice students. Moreover, due to some changes ...
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作者:Fernandez, Raquel; Levy, Gilat
作者单位:University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; National Bureau of Economic Research; New York University
摘要:In this paper we analyze the interaction of income and preference heterogeneity in a political economy framework. We ask whether the presence of preference heterogeneity (arising, for example, from different ethnic groups or geographic locations) affects the ability of the poor to extract resources from the rich. We study the equilibrium of a game in which coalitions Of individuals form parties, parties propose platforms, and all individuals vote, with the winning policy chosen by plurality. P...
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作者:Han, Seungjin; Leach, John
作者单位:McMaster University
摘要:This paper develops a model in which competing governments offer financial incentives to induce individual firms to locate within their jurisdictions. Equilibrium is described under three specifications of the supplementary taxes. There is no misallocation of capital under two of these specifications, and there might or might not be capital misallocation under the third. This result contrasts strongly with that of the standard tax competition model, which does not allow governments to treat fi...
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作者:Grossman, Gene M.; Helpman, Elhanan
作者单位:Princeton University; Harvard University
摘要:We study budget formation in a model featuring separation of powers. In our model, the legislature designs a budget bill that can include a cap on total spending and earmarked allocations to designated public projects. Each project provides random benefits to one of many interest groups. The legislature can delegate spending decisions to an executive agency that can observe the productivity of all projects before choosing which to fund. However, the ruling coalition in the legislature and the ...