Perspectives from the Happiness Literature and the Role of New Instruments for Policy Analysis

After having been ignored for a long time by economists, happinessis becoming an object of serious research in 21st century economics.In Section 2 we sketch the present status of happiness economics.In Section 3 we consider the practical applicability of happinesseconomics, retaining the assumption of ordinal individual utilities.In Section 4 we introduce a cardinal utility concept, whichseems to us the natural consequence of the happiness economicsmethodology. In Section 5 we sketch how this approach can leadto a normative approach to policy problems that is admissiblefrom a positivist point of view. Section 6 concludes. (JEL codes:B21, B41, D63, I31, I38)     

Adjusting for family size in the supplemental poverty measure

We point out an anomaly in the adjustment for family size in the US Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). The equivalence scale for the SPM implies an instance of increasing marginal costs for an additional adult. A similar criticism of the official US poverty measure was one of several concerns that led to the creation of the SPM. We propose two possible solutions for the problem and show that eliminating the anomaly from the SPM has the greatest effect on the poverty rate for the elderly, as that group is more concentrated near the poverty line.     

Can PIGLOG preferences identify equivalence scales?

This paper clarifies the conditions under which PIGLOG and extended PIGLOG preferences can identify household equivalence scales. The results are of interest to practitioners who have to elect preferences suitable for welfare analysis. It also shows that independent of the base utility equivalence scales are the same whether the budget shares of the demand systems are linear or quadratic in log income. (JEL: D11, D13) The author is grateful to an anonymous referee for several helpful suggestions.     

Comparing the True Cost of Living Indices of Demographically Different Households

The comparison of true cost of living indices between demographically different households (relative equivalence scale) is argued to be sensitive to the way demographic characteristics enter demand analysis. In particular, parameters reflecting the cost of demographic characteristics at base prices, though themselves do not have welfare (equivalence scale) interpretation, can alter the benchmark from which demographically varying inflation effects are measured. The empirical analysis, based on a rank‐3 demand system applied to UK individual household data, shows that the inflation adjustment of child benefits can vary with the way demographic costs at base period prices are specified.     

Properties of Equivalence Scales in Different Countries

Recent studies in industrialized countries have shown that equivalence scales are income-dependent. We investigate whether this dependence also holds in poorer, services oriented countries, by considering the case of Cyprus. We also examine whether household economies of scale and relative children costs differ from those found for industrialized countries.     

依法治税存在的问题及对策

依法治税是新时期做好税收工作的基本点。建立符合社会主义市场经济体制要求的税收立法机制;完善税收法律体制,树立法律权威;强化税收执法和税收司法,有效制止和惩治税收违法犯罪活动是现阶段依法治税的目标和任务。     

国外的生态税收政策与我国生态税制建设构想

20世纪90年代以来,一些发达国家为了解决环境问题,纷纷展开生态税收改革,建立起了比较完善的生态税制,使税收在环境保护中发挥了巨大作用.我国应借鉴其先进经验,建立并完善我国的生态税制,以实现经济的可持续发展.     

刍议信息化纳税信息服务的优化

我国的纳税信息服务(即税收宣传)与税收咨询工作存在着受传统模式影响较深、内容相对简单、效率相对低下等问题,应借鉴国际先进经验,强化人力资源的培训,构建统一服务平台,完善质量监管体系等,以实现信息化纳税信息服务的优化.     

税收管理中的寻租博弈与治理路径

博弈论作为现代经济问题研究的一项重要工具,可用来揭示税收管理中的各种对抗与合作规律,减少管理决策的错误,降低管理成本,提高管理效率。税收活动作为政府调节社会经济活动的手段,由于不同的利益主体存在信息不对称,易诱发"设租"与"寻租"行为。如何合理界定"租金"价值,设计科学的治理路径以抑制税收管理过程中的寻租行为,提高资源配置和使用效率,意义重大。     

在科学发展观下建立绿色税收体系

随着经济的发展,社会环境与经济发展矛盾日益尖锐,在科学发展观下建立绿色税收体系的提出正是为了顺应社会发展趋势,为缓解和解决这一矛盾提供有效的途径。     

Does taxation have real effects on agricultural output? Theory and empirical evidence from China

China has a long history of taxing agriculture, with special levies on output. Whether farm households are taxed on a lump-sum basis or as a proportion of output is an important issue. This paper develops a theoretical model to understand better the effects of the lump-sum and proportional taxation on agricultural output. It then empirically investigates the predictions using tax and output data on Chinese agriculture. The theoretical model predicts that lump-sum taxation affects only consumption, while proportional taxation simultaneously affects consumption, capital inputs and final output. Although the main tax policy targeted output, our results suggest that taxation had only a modest impact on output since it was effectively applied as lump sum taxation brought about by localized levies and taxes.     

依法治税和纳税服务——基于国家税收和公共税收的视角

依法治税和纳税服务是现阶段税收的两大任务。对两者的认识,不能孤立地或对立地看,而是要在社会主义市场经济下的税收应是国家税收和公共税收的统一的视角下加以把握。从这一认识出发,我们就能真正做到坚持依法治税,优化纳税服务,服务科学发展,就能探索出一条中国特色社会主义市场经济条件下的纳税服务新路。     

The geometry of optimal taxation: a primal approach

We characterize zero tax results geometrically as a condition on indifference curves and the implementability constraint. The condition can also be expressed as a generalized homotheticity condition on the utility function and also extends older results on uniform taxation that use the duality approach. Many zero taxation results in dynamic macroeconomics can be derived from our characterization; thus it provides a unified framework for a systematic study of these phenomena. Our geometric method also allows to study the sign of deviations from zero tax results in more complicated frameworks such as taxation without commitment.      

激励企业生态技术创新的动态生态税模型研究

生态技术创新是实现生态经济的核心动力,动态生态税税制的定性与定量分析是发展生态经济的理论需要。建立动态生态税量化模型有利于激励企业生态技术创新和完善国家创新体系。研究构建了动态生态税方程,动态生态税税率模型,企业本期应交生态税总额模型。     

关于税收司法改革思路的设想

目前理论界对税收司法的研究一直主要集中在如何建立和完善税收司法保卫体系上。而本文认为当前税收司法的核心问题在于：税收司法审判不足和税收司法审查范围太窄而由此带来的税收司法的虚置。笔者认为,要充分发挥税收司法的作用,必须从司法权是行政权和公民权之间的平衡器的作用这一认识基点出发,在扩大司法审查领域、规范税收执法、提高税收立法质量、改革现行司法制度等多方面作出努力 。