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on Public Economics |
| By: | John Nellis |
| Abstract: | Too many African state-owned enterprises (SOEs), particularly those in infrastructure sectors, have a long history of poor performance. African governments and donors labored through the 1970s and 1980s to improve SOE performance through “commercialization”——i.e., methods short of ownership change. These generally failed, giving rise, in the 1990s, to much more heavy reliance on private sector participation and ownership. This approach produced some successes, but Africa’s private participation in infrastructure (PPI) initiatives have been comparatively few and weak. A number of those that have been launched have run into problems, to the point where both investor and African government interest in the approach has waned in the last few years. The reform is not popular—surveys of public opinion in 15 African countries reveal that only a third of respondents prefer private to state-owned firms. Nonetheless, African states (and their supporters) should not jettison the PPI approach. Rather, they should acknowledge its limitations, and recognize the large scope and moderate pace of the preparatory measures required both to improve their investment climates and to make PPI work effectively. |
| Keywords: | privatization, private sector, African state-owned enterprise, commercialization, private participation in infrastructure |
| JEL: | F0 F4 O0 |
| Date: | 2006–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:84&r=pbe |
| By: | John Nellis |
| Abstract: | In the last 25 years many thousands of formerly state-owned and operated firms have been privatized in developing and transition countries, generating over $400 billion (US) in sales proceeds. In addition, thousands of firms have been transferred by privatization processes in which no money was raised (though a surprising number of state-owned firms remain in these regions). The vast majority of economic studies praise privatization’s positive impact at the level of the firm, as well as its positive macroeconomic and welfare contributions. Moreover, contrary to popular conception, privatization has not contributed to maldistribution of income or increased poverty——at least in the best-studied Latin American cases. In sum, the technical picture is generally positive. Nonetheless, public opinion in the less developed world is generally suspicious of, and often hostile to, privatization. A good part of the problem is that privatization has proven harder to launch, and is more likely to produce errant results, in low-income, institutionally weak states, particularly in the most important infrastructure sectors. Privatization is hard to sell politically; it has become a lightning rod and handy scapegoat for all discontent related to liberalization and globalization. What is needed are reform mechanisms that give incentives and comfort to reputable private investors, that create and sustain the policy and regulatory institutions that make governments competent and honest partners with the private operators, while at the same time protecting consumers, particularly the most disadvantaged, from abuse. |
| Keywords: | privatization, weak institutions, poverty, liberalization, globalization, incentives |
| JEL: | E21 E20 D60 F4 O1 |
| Date: | 2006–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:87&r=pbe |
| By: | William Easterly; Jozef Ritzan; Michael Woolcock |
| Abstract: | We present evidence that measures of “social cohesion,” such as income inequality and ethnic fractionalization, endogenously determine institutional quality, which in turn casually determines growth. |
| Keywords: | Political institutions, social cohesion, poverty, economic policy |
| JEL: | H5 O1 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:94&r=pbe |
| By: | Maureen Lewis |
| Abstract: | What factors affect health care delivery in the developing world? Anecdotal evidence of lives cut tragically short and the loss of productivity due to avoidable diseases is an area of salient concern in global health and international development. This working paper looks at factual evidence to describe the main challenges facing health care delivery in developing countries, including absenteeism, corruption, informal payments, and mismanagement. The author concludes that good governance is important in ensuring effective health care delivery, and that returns to investments in health are low where governance issues are not addressed. |
| Keywords: | governance, corruption, health care, disease, absenteeism |
| JEL: | H0 O0 I1 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:78&r=pbe |
| By: | Jorge E. Restrepo; Hernán Rincón |
| Abstract: | Structural VAR and Structural VEC models were estimated for Chile and Colombia, aiming at identifying fiscal policy shocks in both countries between 1990 and 2005. The impulse responses obtained allow the calculation of a pesofor- peso ($/$) effect on output of a shock to public spending and to the government's net tax revenues, providing a good notion of the incidence of fiscal policy shocks in both countries. When public finances are under control, as they are in Chile, fiscal policy seems to be more effective than when they lack stability and credibility, as seems to be the case of Colombia since the mid nineties. |
| Keywords: | Identification, Fiscal Policy, SVAR, SVEC |
| JEL: | E62 E63 C32 C51 C52 C53 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:397&r=pbe |
| By: | Viktor Steiner; Katharina Wrohlich |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effects of three alternative proposals to reform the taxation of families relative to the current German system of joint taxation of couples and child allowances: a French-type family splitting and two full family splitting proposals. The empirical analysis of the effects of these proposals on the income distribution and on work incentives is based on a behavioral micro-simulation model which integrates an empirical household labor supply model into a detailed tax-benefit model based on the German Socio Economic Panel. Our simulation results show that under each reform the lion's share of the reduction in taxes would accrue to families with children in the upper part of the income distribution, and that expected labor supply effects are small for all analyzed family tax splitting reforms, both in absolute terms and relative to the implied fiscal costs. |
| Keywords: | Household Taxation, Income Distribution, Work Incentive, Microsimulation |
| JEL: | H24 H31 J22 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp612&r=pbe |
| By: | Timothy Goodspeed (Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center); Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies); JLi Zhang (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to broaden the existing empirical literature on foreign direct investment by incorporating government expenditures (both investment in infrastructure and consumption) as well as tax, classical location factors, institutional factors that may hinder business investment (such as corruption), and agglomeration effects. We investigate the determinants of FDI inflows in two unbalanced panel data sets of 47 countries from 1995-2002 and 37 countries from 1996-2002. We use fixed country and year effects and examine different infrastructure measures. The evidence indicates that lower taxes, lower corruption, and better infrastructure attract FDI. Government consumption expenditures negatively impact FDI inflows. The magnitude of the response of FDI to our investment in infrastructure is similar to that of corruption and taxes in elasticity terms. |
| Keywords: | FDI, government expenditures, tax level and corruption |
| Date: | 2006–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0614&r=pbe |
| By: | José Sánchez Maldonado; Salvador Gómez Sala (Universidad de Málaga) |
| Abstract: | In this chapter we analyze the reform and evolution of consumption taxes in Spain over recent decades, paying particular attention to the new developments stemming from the introduction of the VAT in 1986 and the modifications carried out to excise taxes in order to bring the Spanish tax system into line with European Community legislation. In the second section we proceed to review the situation of consumption taxation in Spain in the years previous to the democracy’s fiscal reform. The third section deals with a basic description of the before-mentioned reform and includes an analysis of its main economic. It ends with the consideration of the role of indirect taxation in the financing of the territorial governments. The fourth section describes the evoluation of the consumption taxation pattern in Spain in relation to other OECD countries, beginning in the year 1965. The fifth section analyzes the process of fiscal harmonization of the VAT and of excise taxes in the European Union. The incidence of indirect taxation in Spain is studied in the sixth section from a personal and territorial perspective, given the implications of this last one in the finance of regional and local governments (Comunidades Autónomas y Corporaciones Locales). In seventh section, we consider the main pending issues as well as a variety of future reform options. The last section of the paper offers some concluding thoughts. |
| Keywords: | Indirect Taxation, Spain, VAT, Excise Tax, Tax reform |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0607&r=pbe |
| By: | Emilio Albi (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | Over twenty-five years have passed since the original predecessors of today's Personal and Corporate Income Taxes came into force on January 1, 1979 and since the Urgent Measures on Tax Reform were published on November 14, 1977. The latter signaled the start of a major reform process aimed at modernizing Spanish public finance, which continues today. With the perspective of time, this long fiscal reform process contains elements of considerable interest for the analysis of taxation. Personally, so many years of tax reform in Spain places one in an ambivalent position. On the one hand, it is stimulating to study, with the objectives I will soon establish, such an important issue as a country's tax reforms over such a lengthy period. On the other hand, and this is slightly less pleasant, one of the possible comparative advantages I have when considering these matters is age; having been an active witness of the preparation and onset of the 1977-78 tax reform and the large number of changes made since then. |
| Keywords: | Tax Reform in Spain, Corporate income tax, Spanish public finance, fiscal reform |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0602&r=pbe |
| By: | Laura de Pablos Escobar (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this chapter is to analyze the role played by the Personal Wealth Tax in the process of Spanish tax reform started in 1977. Besides the Personal Net Wealth Tax we also study the reform process of the Inheritance and Gift Taxes. These taxes have generally been justified on equity grounds, more specifically, their role of improving income distribution and the overall progressively of the fiscal systems. This chapter studies whether, in practice, these taxes have achieved their objectives starting with the 1977 Fiscal Reform until now, and what role they can play in the immediate future. |
| Keywords: | Inheritance and Gift Taxes, Net Wealth Tax, equity, progressivity,redistribution. |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0606&r=pbe |
| By: | Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies); Andrey Timofeev (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | National equalization policies often are concerned with the quality and accessibility of services delivered at the lowest level (or local) government. When these policies are implemented in a hierarchical fashion through the intermediate level governments, national equalization policies need to take into account possible offsetting effects originating on regional or provincial government policies. In this paper, we examine recent fiscal equalization outcomes for about 2,000 Russian local governments to assess and explain the extent of equalization differences between and within regions. In particular, we examine the claim that intraregional policies should be blamed for rising disparities in local fiscal outcomes despite Russia 's federal government efforts to equalize sub-national government finances. |
| Keywords: | Russia's Fiscal Equalization, equalization differences, local fiscal, sub-national government finances |
| Date: | 2006–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0616&r=pbe |
| By: | Desiderio Romero Jordán (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos); José Félix Sanz (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this chapter is to explain the most significant events during the lifetime of the personal income tax (PIT) which, since its introduction, has become the form of taxation most widely known by Spanish taxpayers. We will therefore describe its historical origins, analyze its significance within the Spanish tax framework and offer a statistical evaluation of the tax since it came into force. We will also review the three most significant processes of reform since 1978. The first was in 1991 under the Socialist government of Felipe González; the other two were carried out in 1998 and 2002 by José María Aznar's Partido Popular government. |
| Keywords: | Personal Income Taxation,Tax System, Spain, Tax Reform |
| Date: | 2006–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0604&r=pbe |
| By: | Jorge Onrubia (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | This chapter deals with the evolution of tax administration in Spain from the initial stages of the democratic process, way back in the second half of the seventies, up to the present time. Given the relevance of the classical interrelation between the tax reform processes and tax administration reforms, we review the main events and milestones in the last three decades. We analyze the influence that institutional, economic, and political factors have had on both the architecture of the tax administration and its organizational behavior. Nevertheless, based on what we have just said, the performance of the Spanish tax administration cannot be satisfactorily assessed without explicit reference to the deep decentralization experienced by the Spanish tax system from the early eighties, and especially since 1994. That is why a considerable part of the chapter is devoted to analyze the role played by the successive reforms of the Autonomous Communities' financing system, and the decisions of the regional governments themselves, in shaping Spain 's tax administration. |
| Keywords: | Spainish Tax Administration, tax reform, tax reform processes, tax administration reforms |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0612&r=pbe |
| By: | Carlo Mazzaferro (University of Bologna and Capp); Alberto Zanardi (University of Bologna and EconPubblica-Università Bocconi) |
| Abstract: | Building on the principles of the classical thoey of fiscl federalism, the new political economy of multi-level government indicates a number of criteria asa guide for the efficient assignment of competencies between the European Union (EU) and the member states: internalize interregional spillovers; exploit economies of scale; take into account heterogeneity of preferencies. The aim of this paper is to compare the welfare effects that the heterogeneity of individual preferencies for public expenditures imply with the centralized and the decentralized solutions. In this perspective a median voter mechanism of collective decision is assumed to work both at national and EU level. Using data from a large international survey (ISSP), a series of econometric models has been estimated in order to make individual attitudes for public expenditures representative and comparable across different categories and different countries. A measurement of the individual and total welfare loss has then been derived in the cases when the decision upon the level of public provision is taken by the national or by the median EU voter respectively. The empirical analysis reveals that in some sectors of public expenditures (health, education, employment benefits) centralized solution welfare dominates (or is close to dominating) decentralization even in the absence of economies of scale and interregional spillovers. |
| Keywords: | public expenditure, preferences, European Union, |
| Date: | 2006–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:unimip:1020&r=pbe |
| By: | GALLEGO A., Juan Miguel |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the literature on optimal income taxation with single and couple households. In the seminal works of Mirrlees and Atkinson and Stiglitz the household is composed by one member. However, I described a model where households can have more than one member. There is an economy which is composed by both one-memberand two member families. This structure introduces vertical and horizontal equity considerations. For linear taxation the results of Sheshinski hold, however in optimal income taxation additional results to those of Mirrlees should be considered. |
| Date: | 2004–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:001065:002557&r=pbe |
| By: | Ghazala Yasmeen Azmat |
| Abstract: | Tax credits have been a popular way to alleviate in-work poverty. The assumption is typicallythat the incidence is on the claimant workers. However, economic theory suggests noparticular reason to believe that this should be the case. This paper investigates the incidenceof the Working Families Tax Credit in the UK introduced in 1999, which unlike similar taxcredit policies was paid through the wage packet, increasing the connection between theemployer and worker with regard to the tax credit. Using two stage parametric and nonparametriccensored regression methods we find compelling evidence to suggest that (1) thefirm discriminates by cutting the wage of claimant workers relative to similarly skilled nonclaimantworkers when looking at men and (2) there is a spill-over effect onto the wage ofboth groups for both men and women. |
| Keywords: | Wages, Incidence, Tax Credits |
| JEL: | J30 H22 I38 D58 |
| Date: | 2006–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0724&r=pbe |
| By: | Alberto Gago; Xavier Labandeira; Fidel Picos; Miguel Rodríguez (Universidade de Vigo) |
| Abstract: | In this chapter we describe and assess the Spanish experience with environmental taxes in the last several decades, and formulate several suggestions for future developments in this area of tax reform. We first deal with the theoretical and policy contexts for environmental taxes and the so-called green tax reforms, to proceed with an enumeration of actions by the different levels of government in Spain . We show how the central and local governments' stand has not been favorable to the use of these tax instruments due to political beliefs and legal constraints, which have led to a poor energy and environmental performance in comparative European terms. At the same time, the lack of interest of central and local governments in such taxes has fostered an intense regional design and implementation in this field, mainly on emissions to air and waters. These applications share positive and negative aspects, as they contribute to internalize negative environmental effects, but often do so in an inefficient way with a clear revenue-raising component. We conclude that a serious and comprehensive use of environmental taxes in Spain should take into account optimal jurisdictional allocation and the presence of new regulatory approaches in environmental policies, with a focus on some specific fields such as waste, transport and tourism. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Taxes,Spain,Tax reform. environmental policies |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0609&r=pbe |
| By: | Richard Bird (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies); Pierre-Pascal Gendron (Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we discuss some recent critical literature on VAT in developing countries relating to its revenue productivity, its equity, and its impact on the development of the formal economy. Illustrating our argument with reference to two recent country studies (of Ukraine and Jamaica) we conclude that while there is merit in many of the criticisms that have been made, on the whole if a country needs a general consumption tax, as most developing countries do, then VAT is the one to have in almost all cases – although this conclusion certainly does not imply that the VAT already in force in most such countries is necessarily the ‘best’ VAT for their circumstances. |
| Keywords: | value-added tax, progressivity, informal economy, Ukraine, Jamaica |
| Date: | 2006–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0618&r=pbe |
| By: | Uwe Kunert; Hartmut Kuhfeld |
| Abstract: | In this study we first analyze duties on passenger cars in 27 European countries. Taxes and fees related to the registration, ownership and use of cars are assessed differently across Europe, and their rates vary significantly. We find that the annual taxes levied on specific types of cars differ across countries by a factor of up to four, while the various kinds of duties levied account for extremely diverse shares of the entire car-related tax burden and give rise to very different ratios of fixed and variable components in the taxes levied. Given the importance of taxation systems for market and competitive conditions, the Euro-pean Commission is seeking to achieve reciprocal alignment of the various systems. The Commission has also proposed that greater importance be given to environmental criteria in the assessment of vehicle related taxes. Effectively in some countries, the registration taxes represent a significant burden on the acquisition of new vehicles; this factor reduces market transparency and may mean that taxes are levied twice. Only in a few countries' tax schemes is fuel consumption taken into account, and then only to a marginal degree. It is thus neces-sary to modify and simplify the tax systems in Europe, because it is crucial that the traffic sector contribute more to climate protection, and because motor vehicles impair local air quality. In this context, the overall structure of the various charges to passenger cars should be rebalanced, with CO2 emissions not being the sole focus. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp589&r=pbe |
| By: | Alfredo M. Pereira (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary); Jorge M. Andraz (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides empirical evidence on the economic and budgetary effects of the recent investments in toll-free highways in Portugal, the so-called SCUTS, in an effort to bring some clarity to the current policy debate on these highways. This debate is centered on the issue of the financial sustainability of these highways and is related to the fact that their financing involves payments of shadow tolls from the public budget to the private firms that constructed and operate them. In this context, the introduction of tolls has been suggested. Our results deal directly with the conceptual adequacy and the financial necessity of such tolls. Our first conclusion is that investments in SCUTS have positive economic effects in all regions of the country. Furthermore, we find that regional spillovers account for about three-quarters of the total effects of these investments. A paradigmatic case is Lisbon, a region that captures the greatest share of these effects without any investments having actually occurred in the region itself. The importance of spillovers suggests that the conceptual argument for the introduction of tolls is weak. Our second conclusion is that investments in SCUTS do not seem to generate problems of financial sustainability for the public budget. We estimate that for all SCUTS, the equilibrium tax rate, i.e., the rate that would balance the tax revenues induced by these highways and the shadow tolls the government has to pay, is lower than the effective tax rate for the economy. Accordingly, the introduction of tolls is not necessary from a financial perspective. |
| Keywords: | road infrastructures, regional spillovers, financial sustainability, SCUTS, Portugal. |
| JEL: | C32 H54 R53 |
| Date: | 2006–08–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwm:wpaper:37&r=pbe |
| By: | Fransisco Comín (University of Alcalá, Madrid) |
| Abstract: | After the death of Francisco Franco in November 1975, the political transition was adversely affected by the concurrence of a deep economic crisis and intense social conflict. The hesitant economic policies of the last Francois and the first transitional governments - up to the 1977 elections - made the economic depression even worse. Therefore, economic imbalances were more serious in Spain than in most other European countries. There were higher levels of inflation, unemployment, balance of payments deficit, public sector deficit and a larger drop in profits and investment. Two fundamental challenges facing Spain , in the midst of such a serious situation, had to be resolved together. The political challenge called for the transition to be guided towards democracy via peaceful means, while the economic challenge required the economic depression to be lessened and the economic institutions modernized. Both problems required an incomes policy orchestrated by means of a political pact that would permit a constituent process to set up democracy, at the same time several reforms would modernize dysfunctional economic institutions. The consensus amongst various political parties made the Moncloa Pacts, signed in 1977, and the Constitution, approved the following year, possible. That exceptional situation led to political and economic agreements unknown in Spain before and after that date. This chapter focuses on the economic pacts that allowed the beginning of tax reform in a democratic setting. |
| Keywords: | Spain, Tax Reform in Spain, The Moncloa Pacts, European Union |
| Date: | 2006–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0601&r=pbe |
| By: | Mark Rider (Andrew Young School of Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | An important goal of a state's economic policy is to create an attractive place to do business and well paying jobs for the future so that Rhode Island 's talented and well educated youth choose to pursue careers at home rather than in neighboring states. As discussed in greater detail, high state PIT rates make it more difficult for a state to achieve this objective. Federal and state governments frequently use progressive personal income tax (PIT) rate structures to address concerns about income inequality. However, the ability of state governments to do so may be limited because high PIT rates may adversely affect business location decisions, work effort, the form of compensation (e.g., fringe benefits, stock options, etc.), capital investment, and economic growth. The purpose of this study is to review the evidence regarding the effect of high state PIT rates on business and individual decisions. |
| Keywords: | Personal Income Tax Rates, PIT rate and Business Decisions,state's economic policy |
| Date: | 2006–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0615&r=pbe |
| By: | Ignacio Zubriri (University of the Basque Country) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to analyze social protection in Spain and its financing, paying special attention to the possible relationship between social protection and unemployment. I will first describe the evolution of the social insurance system in Spain and compare it with that of other countries (section 2). Section 3 describes the evolution of unemployment in Spain and explores its causes. In section 4, I analyze Social Security contributions and their possible impact on unemployment. Finally section 5 contains the conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Social Protection,Social Security, Social security Contributions, Spain, social insurance |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0608&r=pbe |
| By: | Julio López Laborda (Universidad de Zaragoza); Carlos Monasterio Escudero (Universidad de Oviedo) |
| Abstract: | This chapter provides an overview of the key issues in public economics arising from the process of territorial decentralization that has taken place in Spain since the restoration of democracy and ratification of the Constitution of 1978, which resulted in the emergence of the “ Autonomic State ”. The first section of this chapter focuses on the assignment of competencies between central and regional levels of government and explains in detail the methodology used to quantify the “effective cost” of the services devolved to the Autonomous Communities (hereinafter ACs). We have paid special attention to health services, which are the most significant item for regional budgets in quantitative terms. The second section deals with revenue assignment and describes the two systems established to finance regional expenditures. These two systems are the “ordinary system” (régimen común), which is applied in the majority of the ACs, and the “charter system” (régimen foral), which is based on the historical rights accorded to the Basque Country and Navarre . The last section gives an appraisal of the decentralization process and notes some emerging issues of debate. |
| Keywords: | Regional Decentralization,Spain, Vertical Imbalances, Revenue Assignments, régimen común, régimen foral |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0610&r=pbe |
| By: | Raquel Paredes Gómez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this chapter is to analyze the structure and performance of the Corporate Income Tax in Spain over the last 25 years. We will study the reasons, principles and objectives of the reforms undertaken and will examine the context of these amendments through the evolution of the basic components of the tax. . Besides, we will study the performance of the CIT from a revenue viewpoint and we will describe the principal results of the empirical studies that analyze the neutrality and competitiveness of the Spanish CIT. Finally, we will discuss some aspects of the reform which are still pending. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Income Tax, Spain, tax reform. Spnish CIT |
| Date: | 2006–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0605&r=pbe |
| By: | Saul Lach; Mark Schankerman |
| Abstract: | Using data on U.S. universities, we show that universities that give higher royalty shares to facultyscientists generate greater license income, controlling for other factors including university size,quality, research funding, and local demand conditions. We use pre-sample data on universitypatenting to control for the endogeneity of royalty shares. The incentive effects are larger in privateuniversities than in public ones, and we provide survey evidence on performance-based pay,government constraints and objectives of Technology License Offices that helps explain this finding.Royalty incentives work through two channels — raising faculty effort and sorting scientists acrossuniversities. The effect of incentives is mainly to increase the quality rather than the quantity ofinventions. |
| Keywords: | royalty incentives, invention, technology licensing |
| JEL: | O31 O34 L2 L3 |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0729&r=pbe |
| By: | Todd Moss; Arvind Subramanian |
| Abstract: | There are indications that overseas development assistance budgets will continue to increase in coming years, spurred in part by growing calls for a ‘Big Push’ in aid to the poorest countries. In this paper, we estimate the effect of six proposals on aid intensity ratios for 52 low-income countries. We find that, in the average scenario, at least 35 of these countries would see aid inflows equivalent to more than half of total public expenditure and 17 would cross the 75 percent threshold. We also consider possible negative influences of such increases on the incentives for institutional development, on the accountability of state institutions to their own populations, and on long-term sustainability. |
| Keywords: | overseas development assistance, big push |
| JEL: | O1 F35 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:71&r=pbe |
| By: | Vijaya Ramachandran; Manju Kedia Shah; Ginger Turner |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the determinants of firms’ decision to provide HIV/AIDS prevention activities. Using data from 860 firms and 4,955 workers in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya, it shows that larger firms, and firms with higher skilled workers tend to invest more in AIDS prevention. Firms where more than 50 percent of workers are unionized are also more likely to do more prevention activity. Finally, these characteristics are also significant in determining whether or not a firm carries out pre-employment health checks of its workers. The results shed light on the likelihood of private sector intervention and the gaps that will require public sector assistance. |
| Keywords: | HIV/AIDS, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, private sector, public sector, investment climate |
| JEL: | H3 O1 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:76&r=pbe |
| By: | Richard E. Baldwin; Frédéric Robert-Nicoud |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impact of trade on growth when firms are heterogeneous. We findthat greater openness produces anti-and pro-growth effects. The Melitz-model selectioneffects raises the expected cost of introducing a new variety and this tends to slow the rate ofnew-variety introduction and hence growth. The pro-growth effect stems from the impact thatfreer trade has on the marginal cost of innovating. The balance of the two effects isambiguous with the sign depending upon the exact nature of the innovation technology andits connection to international trade in goods and ideas. We consider five special cases (theseinclude the Grossman-Helpman, the Coe- Helpman and Rivera-Batiz-Romer models) two ofwhich suggest that trade harms growth; the others predicting the opposite. |
| Keywords: | trade and endogenous growth, heterogeneous firms, dynamic versus staticefficiency |
| JEL: | H32 P16 |
| Date: | 2006–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0727&r=pbe |