Compensation for Regulatory Takings with a Redistributive Government

Richard Epstein has argued that governments should pay compensation for regulatory actions that impose costs on a subset of society. I develop a model in which there are two groups, one of whom benefits from a regulation, and one of whom bears the costs. A potentially biased government sets the level of the regulation and also redistributes income across the two social groups via the tax system. When taxes are nondistortionary, the government chooses the efficient level of the regulation to maximize wealth and then uses the tax system to distribute this wealth according to its preferences. If the government is forced to pay compensation for the costs of the regulation, it simply undoes this via the tax and transfer system. When taxes are distortionary, societal wealth is monotonically decreasing in the degree of compensation to be paid, so that the optimal level of compensation is zero.     

固定支付方式下ICT推动节能减排的策略研究

ICT推动工业企业节能减排,实现绿色低碳发展,需要ICT低碳技术研发商、工业企业和政府的协同努力。考虑研发商和工业企业面对的研发和市场不确定性,分析二者通过固定支付方式合作时各自的最优投入,给出政府的激励和监管策略。研究表明ICT低碳技术研发商的最优投入与工业企业的买断费用、政府的资金资助和惩罚力度有关,而工业企业的最优投入仅与政府的税收优惠有关。增加买断费用或政府资金资助和惩罚,能够激励ICT低碳技术研发商提高其最优投入;增加政府税收优惠能够提高工业企业的最优投入;但需合理设置买断费用和政府经费资助的首期拨付比例以防范ICT低碳技术研发商的道德风险。     

The double dividend from carbon regulations in Japan

Using a multisector dynamic CGE model, this paper examines the double dividend from carbon regulations in Japan. The model has 27 sectors and goods (eight goods generate carbon emissions) and covers 100 years (from 1995 to 2095). When carbon regulations are introduced, pre-existing taxes are reduced, keeping government's revenue constant. Our main findings are summarized as follows. First, the weak double dividend arises in all scenarios. This means that by using revenues from carbon tax to finance reductions in pre-existing distortionary taxes, one can achieve cost savings relative to the case where the tax revenues are returned to households in lump-sum fashion. Second, the strong double dividend does not arise from reductions in labor and consumption taxes, but it does from reductions in capital tax. The second result is attributable to the nature of the pre-existing tax system in Japan where capital taxes are more distortionary than labor and consumption taxes. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (3) (2007) 336–364.     

国外税收结构的收入分配效应研究新进展

目前国外关于税收结构的收入分配效应研究的新进展主要表现在三个方面。第一,税收总量不变情况下一种税收对另一种税收的替代往往存在公平和效率的权衡。一般来说,一种税收对另一种税收的替代在改善收入分配的同时往往不利于经济增长,或者加剧了收入分配但却往往有利于经济增长。第二,不同赶超经济税收结构的收入分配效应存在一些共同点也存在差异。普遍上,"形式上"累进的税收结构在实际过程中并没有改善收入分配,累进所得税因存在大量的逃税而效果有限。第三,税收结构的收入分配效应研究开始应用一些新的分析方法。Bewley模型和CGE模型已经成为了研究税收替代收入分配效应的主流方法,同时,不同的税收累进程度指标选取,收入分配的纵向与横向分解和政府税率结构决策可能受现有收入分配格局影响这三个方面都可能使得研究者重新考察现有分析框架和分析结论。     

Export taxes and income distribution: The Philippines coconut levy

Export Taxes and Income Distribution: The Philippines Coconut Levy. — A large, empirically based general equilibrium model of the Philippine economy is used to analyze the implications of a tax on coconut oil exports. The analysis shows how general equilibrium models can be used to derive optimal tax rates and to show the detailed relationship between the rates at which these taxes are applied and their economic effects. The analysis explores in particular the effects such taxes have on economic welfare and on income distribution within the country. The distributional effects of this export tax are shown to be highly regressive, revealing more clearly the policy trade-offs such taxes involve.     

Determinants of external imbalances: The role of taxes, government spending, and productivity

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic optimizing model of the current account. The model focuses on real factors that determine the evolution of saving and investment and hence the external balance. Three types of shocks are at the center of the analysis: productivity shocks, shocks to labor input, and tax policy shocks. While our approach is in line with the real business cycle models of the current account, the distinguishing feature of the work is the application of econometric methods to time series data for a small open economy so as to directly estimate the parameters governing saving and investment under rational expectations restrictions.     

The Elasticity of Taxable Income: The Case of South Africa

A key tax policy parameter that has received much attention in the international literature, but about which there is substantial uncertainty, is the overall elasticity of taxable income. The size of this parameter is central to the formulation of tax and transfer policy, as well as for the study of the welfare implications of tax decisions. This paper uses a panel of individual tax returns for the period 2009–2013 and the phenomenon of “bracket creep” to construct instrumental variable estimates of the sensitivity of income to changes in tax rates. Estimates suggest that the overall elasticity of taxable income is approximately 0.3, while that of broad income is significantly lower. The overall response is primarily driven by the elastic response of taxable income for high‐income earners, who have an elasticity of closer to 0.4. Using the elasticity estimates within an optimal tax framework, it is determined that the optimal marginal tax rate for the top 10% of income earners is broadly in line with the current income tax schedule. However, results also suggest that there is little scope for raising marginal rates on high‐income earners further without inducing a negative revenue response.     

低碳规则对我国国际收支的潜在影响

我国以低端产品进入国际市场的外汇创收模式以及FDI对加工贸易的青睐,造就了国际收支顺差形成中的高碳经济因素。碳关税的全面实施会通过进出口渠道和长期资本流入渠道影响我国的国际收支。为了避免碳关税对出口和FDI的过度冲击,我国政府应大力推动贸易部门生产方式的绿色化转型;同时应实现碳关税向国内碳税的转变,并通过免费配额、出口补贴等政策措施,降低碳税对我国出口竞争力的影响。     

Tax and Spend,or Spend and Tax? An Inquiry into the Turkish Budgetary Process

For resolving the budget deficit problem, some economists have advocated spending cuts, while others support either tax increases or tax cuts. This paper investigates the interrelationship between the two fiscal variables for Turkey using bivariate and multivariate cointegrating models. The Engle-Granger and Johansen tests consistently support the existence of one nonzero cointegrating vector representing a stable long-run relationship between government spending and revenues in Turkey. Furthermore, the multivariate error-correction model suggests that taxes unidirectionally Granger-cause negative changes in spending in accordance with the Buchanan-Wagner hypothesis. Thus, from the perspective of policy making and the deficit solution debate, raising taxes in Turkey is perhaps the optimal solution to the current budget deficit predicament.     

Optimal Export Taxes with an Endogenous Location

Export tax policy is one of the most debated issues in many developing countries. Those countries with strong natural advantages in the production of primary commodities, such as agricultural and livestock products, coffee, jute, rubber, and others, have attained at particular times a position as dominant suppliers in international trade. They have often used export taxes on those commodities to obtain foreign exchange and/or government tax revenues. This paper provides a normative analysis to examine how the inclusion of economic space affects export tax policy and to compare optimal export taxes under endogenous location with optimal export taxes under exogenous location, both in the short run and in the long run.     

Structure of the optimal income tax in the quasi-linear model

Existing numerical characterizations of the optimal income tax have been based on a limited number of model specifications. As a result, they do not reveal which properties are general. We determine the optimal tax in the quasi-linear model under weaker assumptions than have previously been used; in particular, we remove the assumption of a lower bound on the utility of zero consumption and the need to permit negative labor incomes. A Monte Carlo analysis is then conducted in which economies are selected at random and the optimal tax function constructed. The results show that in a significant proportion of economies the marginal tax rate rises at low skills and falls at high. The average tax rate is equally likely to rise or fall with skill at low skill levels, rises in the majority of cases in the centre of the skill range, and falls at high skills. These results are consistent across all the specifications we test. We then extend the analysis to show that these results also hold for Cobb-Douglas utility.     

The Timing of Redistribution

We investigate whether late redistribution programs that can be targeted toward low income families, but that may distort savings decisions, can “dominate” early redistribution programs that cannot be targeted as a result of information constraints. We use simple two‐period overlapping generations models with heterogeneous agents under six policy regimes: a model calibrated to the U.S. economy (benchmark), two early redistribution (lump sum) regimes, two (targeted) late redistribution regimes, and finally a model without taxes and redistribution. Redistribution programs are financed by a labor tax on the young generation and a capital tax on the old generation. We argue that if the programs are small in size, late redistribution can dominate early redistribution in terms of welfare but not in terms of real output. Better targeting of low income households cannot completely offset savings distortions. In addition, we find that the optimal transfer and tax policy implies a capital tax of 100% and transfers exclusively to the young generation.     

基于碳税性能的实物期权模型分析

本文首先综述国内外关于碳税及碳关税定义、性质特征及作用功能等方面的研究文献,回顾有关实物期权理论在税收筹划中的理论研究,对碳税及国际碳关税设计中蕴含的实物期权思想及其存在的条件因素进行了分析,并运用实物期权理论描述了结构期权、程序期权的作用过程,构建了碳税及碳关税设计方案转换中存在的转换实物期权模型。最后,针对复杂多变的政治因素和自然环境,提出了碳税及碳关税设计筹划的合理建议。本文主要的创新点在于首次把实物期权模型引入到碳税及碳关税设计中。     

Tariffs and collection costs

Conclusion Tariffs and export taxes may comprise part of a first-best tax package if their cost of collection is lower than alternative means of raising revenue. Using various proxies for relative collection costs, and holding constant standard indices of development, we find evidence of a significant relationship between a country’s usage of trade taxes and the relative cost of raising revenue. This relationship holds for a large sample of developed and developing countries, and when only developing countries are studied. This research suggests that more attention should be paid to the administrative costs of raising revenue, in addition to the usual focus on the allocative effects of taxes and tariffs. Further study of the nature of these costs should prove valuable in understanding the optimal mix of these policy instruments. It would be particularly valuable to have empirical evidence on what characteristics of a country influence the relative collection cost of raising revenue in alternative ways. This would enable researchers to more precisely identify the effect of relative collection costs on observed tax policy, and facilitate the formulation of tax policy by policymakers.     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本、以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

应对气候变化的碳税问题研究

碳税作为应对全球气候变暖的有效政策工具之一,已在多个发达国家实施并取得了较好的效果。碳税有助于推动由化石燃料燃烧产生的负外部性内在化,与碳排放权交易工具互有优势,可以相互补充。文章探讨了碳税的内涵,界定了碳税与其他相关概念的区别,论证了在中国引入碳税的必要性,并提出了在我国开征碳税所需的准备工作及碳税制度的基本框架。     

Taxes and Pensions

Pension benefit rules depend on individual history far more than taxes do, and age plays a much larger role in pension determination than in tax determination. Apart from some simulation studies, theoretical studies of optimal tax design typically contain neither a mandatory pension system nor the behavioral dimensions that lie behind justifications commonly offered for mandatory pensions. Conversely, optimizing models of pension design typically do not include annual taxation of labor and capital incomes. After spelling out this contrast and reviewing (and rejecting) zero taxation of capital income based on the Atkinson‐Stiglitz and Chamley‐Judd results, this article raises the issue of tax‐favored retirement savings, a topic where the two subjects come together.     

Changing Tax Elasticities Over Time: The Case of Tanzania

Abstract: In most studies, tax elasticity, which measures responsiveness of tax revenue to income growth, is assumed constant over time by the use of a double-log tax function. In practice, tax elasticities may change over time with changing tax structures and economic conditions. Neglecting tax elasticity changes can lead to inappropriate tax forecasts or policy recommendations. In this study, use of a flexible form tax function admits the possibility of fluctuating intertemporal tax elasticities. The model is applied to tax revenue data for Tanzania, a developing country in southeastern Africa, and intertemporal tax elasticities are estimated for the overall tax system and for major Tanzanian taxes. The unrestricted flexible form model is compared with alternative restricted models, and chi-squared tests are used to reject the restrictions in all cases. The general finding of the study is that tax elasticities in Tanzania have been varying over time, a warning to researchers who have been relying on constant elasticity models for estimating tax elasticities. Résumé: Dans la plupart des études, on prend pour hypothése qu'en utilisant une fonction double logarithmique pour les impôts, l'élasticité de l'im pôt qui mesure l'ajustement des recettes fiscales par rapport à la croissance des revenus, demeure constante. Dans la pratique, il se peut que I'élasticité de l'impôt évolue dans le temps avec les variations des structures de la fiscalité et des conditions économiques. Si on néglige l'éolution de l'élasticité de l'impôt, cette omission peut se traduire par des prévisions fiscales ou des recommandations de politique générale inadapées à la situation. Dans cette étude, le recours à une fonction flexible d'estimation de la fiscalité revient à admettre la possibilité de fluctuations, dans le temps, de l'élasticité de l'impôt. Ce modéle (fonction double logarithmique) est appliqué aux données concernant les recettes fiscales de la Tanzanie, un pays en développement du sud-est de l'Afrique, pour lequel des estimations des fluctuations dans le temps, de l'élasticité de l'impôt font l'objet d'estimations pour l'ensemble du systéme fiscal ainsi que pour les principaux impôts. Le modèle flexible sans contrainte est comparé au modèle avec contrainte. On a eu recours aux tests du khi-deux pour rejeter les hypothèses de contraintes dans tous les cas. Dans cette étude on en est arrivéà la conclusion que les élasticités de l'impôt en Tanzanie ont varié avec le temps. Cette conclusion est un avertissement aux chercheurs qui tablent sur des modèles d'élasticité constante pour faire des estimations de l'élasticité de l'impôt.