THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF A SWITCH FROM DIRECT TO INDIRECT TAXES: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT

This paper investigates the macroeconomic effects of switching the tax burden from direct to indirect taxes in an empirical model based on 22 OECD countries. The Engle-Yoo three step procdure is employed to estimate both the short and long run effects of such a tax switch. The results reveal that a switich from direct to indirect taxes is likely to generate efficiency gans in the short run which lead to higher levels of aggragate output. However, for the majority of countries in the sample the tax changes have no impact on the level of economic activity in the long run.     

ON CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE, WAGE INDEXING AND A MONOPOLY UNION

The Rogoff proposition (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 100 (1985), pp. 1169–90) that it is socially optimal to delegate monetary policy to a central banker that is more inflation‐averse than society has been widely accepted and implemented in practice. However, there is a literature that argues that, if there is an inflation‐averse monopoly union in the economy, it is optimal to delegate monetary policy to an ‘ultra‐liberal’ central banker, i.e., a central banker that is interested only in output. In this paper, we examine whether introducing wage indexing into the latter models has any effect on the optimal degree of central bank conservativeness and find that, once a monopoly‐type labour union is introduced, wage indexing does not matter for the determination of the optimal degree of conservativeness of the monetary authority.     

FROM PRIVATE BANKING TO CENTRAL BANKING: INGREDIENTS OF A WELFARE ANALYSIS*

An earlier analysis of Cavalcanti and Wallace showing that the set of allocations achievable using outside (government) money is a subset of those achievable using inside (private) money is extended. Here, the class of outside‐money allocations is enriched by allowing the planner to make transfers in the form of outside money. At the same time, punishments for defection are weakened. It is shown that the subset result continues to hold, although for a different reason than in the Cavalcanti and Wallace analysis.     

NEW ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS IN EUROPEAN LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT: FROM MYTH TO REALITY*

ABSTRACT: The Europeanization of public services is frequently considered to have created pressure for Member States to progressively converge towards a new dominant organizational model, based on deregulation, de‐integration and privatization. However, while in some sectors European directives played a crucial role in boosting a common evolutionary path, in other cases, mainly related to local public services, this influence remained feeble and more uncertain. The empirical insight on EU Local Public Transport Services carried out in this paper aims at investigating if and to what extent this new dominant paradigm actually emerges, or if and to what extent more fragmented and heterogeneous outcomes prevail. The main outcome is that the public role in Local Public Transport is still widespread and that a major theoretical and analytical focus should be directed to the ability of the principal‐competent public administration to play its role in an effective and sound manner, while often too much attention is paid to the characteristics of the agent‐operator (public‐private, big or small, foreign or national, etc.).     

转型期中国对外直接投资地域分布特征解析:基于制度的视角

转型期中国对外直接投资(Outward Foreign Direct Investment,OFDI)地域分布特征不能被传统OFDI理论所解释。中国OFDI存量高度集中于避税地,地域分布格局偏离发展中国家常规,主要投资地中政治风险较高国家偏多。引入制度理论对中国OFDI地域分布特征进行解释。转型期制度约束与制度缺失是中国OFDI高度集中于避税地的重要原因,企业通过投资避税地来规避制度约束或进行制度套利;国有企业OFDI动机的双重性以及政府的政策倾斜弱化了地理距离、文化距离、经济距离及政治风险等常规因素对国有企业OFDI区位选择以及中国OFDI地域分布的影响;中国企业的非市场能力支持了它们对政治风险较高国家的投资。