Tenure Decisions Under a Progressive Tax Structure

Although certain provisions of the federal tax code provide subsidies to homeowners, others provide subsidies to renters in the form of tax incentives for investments in rental housing. We demonstrate that the renter subsidies dominate for households in low tax brackets whereas homeowner subsidies dominate for households in high tax brackets. Moreover the dollar magnitude involved in the tenure decision can easily push a household across tax brackets. Based on this relation, we identify an upper bound on the value of a dwelling that a household with a given income will prefer to own rather than rent for tax purposes. If the household were to choose a dwelling valued in excess of this household-specific upper bound, the tax effect would reverse and favor renting. This complication provides a possible explanation for apparent tax anomalies in tenure decisions, i.e., high income renters and/or low income homeowners.     

Food subsidies in Egypt: reform options,distribution and welfare

Egypt's food subsidies (in 1996/97 5.5 percent of government expenditures) cover rationed cooking oil and sugar (23 percent of subsidy cost) and unrationed bread and flour (77 percent). The subsidies enhance food security but are nontargeted and have substantial leakages. This paper uses a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate the short-run effects of alternative food-subsidy scenarios. Government savings from reduced spending finance uniform cuts in direct tax rates across all household types. The model uses a 1996/97 database with detailed household information. The targeting of cooking oil and sugar subsidies to “the needy” (the bottom two quintiles in rural and urban areas) has a progressive effect while elimination of this subsidy is regressive. Disaggregated household consumption changes are small (±0.3 percent). The targeting of all food subsidies is pro-needy, partly due to important indirect effects. The consumption of the needy increases by 0.5 percent with little change for the nonneedy. Food subsidy elimination is regressive: the needy suffer a consumption loss of 1.1 percent. If the government savings instead are transferred to the needy, the impact is reversed: consumption increases by 4.2 percent for needy households while the nonneedy register a small loss. The overall policy implication is that food subsidy reform can benefit the needy with at worst only a modest negative impact on the nonneedy. If the subsidy is entirely eliminated, targeted government programs would be necessary to protect the needy from the negative impact.     

Toward universal telephone access: Market progress and progress beyond the market

The last 10 years have seen an explosion in access to telephone services worldwide based on rapid technology advance in increasingly competitive markets. The mobile phone has driven expansion in subscribers and access, especially in the developing world. This paper estimates global mobile footprint coverage based on 2002 data and calculates that as much as 77 percent of the world's population may live in an area covered by a mobile signal. Nonetheless, many people remain without access to telephony. The paper estimates the maximum likely cost in terms of cross subsidy within the industry and outside financing for achieving universal access using competitively awarded subsidies to private providers in a reformed market. This upper-end cost is estimated at $5.7 billion, with costs that could not be supplied by a reasonable tax on existing providers (and so required from outside the sector) estimated at $1.8 billion.     

The economic impact of subsidized industrial R&D in Israel

Israel offers contingent subsidies to selected industrial R&D projects, with the purpose of creating high–quality jobs, reducing the trade deficit, increasing productivity and promoting growth. In 1987–94, 1,200 firms received $1,400 million of subsidies in support of $3,500 million of R&D (in constant 1996 dollars). We estimate that this R&D generated more than $31,000 million of sales, increasing industrial employment by about 10% and contributing to the trade balance a sum slightly less than the entire private sector deficit in the current account. It added 0.3% to GDP in increased productivity, each dollar of supported R&D adding an additional $0.45 to GDP and earning the economy a direct annual return of 13.4%. Electronics, broadly defined, received roughly half the subsidies while accounting for nearly two thirds of the gains; small firms that received one sixth of the subsidies contributed over a quarter of the gains.     

Universal service and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The fact after the act

Three goals of the 1996 Telecommunications Act are competition, efficiency, and explicit mechanisms to further universal service. The new universal service policies violate these goals. I review the policies (support for highcost and rural areas, low-income subscribers, and educational and medical institutions, and the funding mechanism) and detect the influence of various interest groups and the regulators' desire to protect their policies from public scrutiny. The new policies will require $4–12 billion per year to fund and create inefficiency of $1.2–4.0 billion per year from revenue taxation. A more efficient tax scheme would increase total surplus.     

Market dynamics and investment in the electricity sector

A transition to a low carbon future will include a medium-to-long run period in which intermittent renewables co-exist with conventional fossil fuel electricity generators. Fossil fuel generators have frequent startups and shut-downs during the transition. A dynamic competition model is developed that allows for costly cycling of conventional generators. We analyze long run effects of renewable subsidies and carbon prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas system using the dynamic model. Accounting for costly generator cycling leads to large changes in equilibrium outcomes and changes policy predictions. The dynamic model predicts higher subsidies or carbon taxes are required to achieve CO2 reduction targets compared to a static model without costly generator cycling. The dynamic model predicts the cost of CO2 reduction is 40 - 80% greater than the static model prediction. The dynamic model predicts a much larger gap between CO2 reduction costs for carbon taxes and renewable subsidies; $303 million/year, compared to a static model prediction of $209 million/year.     

An alternative procedure for granting farm input subsidies in Africa

One major problem in the administration of farm input subsidies in Africa is the method by which subsidies are granted to farmers: they are effected in such a way that all farmers, irrespective of their economic and financial capability, benefit equally. However, it is argued that because subsidies allocations are usually limited government ought to concentrate only on farmers who are actually in need. Consequently, a graduated type of rebate as against an all embracing subsidy is suggested as a more realistic approach of granting farm input subsidies to farmers in Africa.     

The Incidence of the Land Use Regulatory Tax

Land use regulation has been found to impose a substantial tax on housing within select U.S. metropolitan areas. In this article, we develop hypotheses regarding the incidence of this tax by income class and racial group within these areas. Parcel‐level data from Miami‐Dade County, Florida, are used to test our hypotheses. We find that, while the tax rises with a household's permanent income, this rise is less than proportional, making it a regressive tax. We also find, controlling for household permanent income, that the tax is a higher percentage of the price of homes located in black neighborhoods in comparison to those located in white or Hispanic neighborhoods.     

农业补贴政策的有效性研究及其政策改革分析——基于顺序logistic模型的分析

本文通过对全国的农村地区做随机性的抽样调查,将所获得的样本数据作顺序logistic计童分析以验证农业补贴政策的有效性,得出如下的结论:虽然农业补贴提高了农户的生活水平,但农业物资价格的上涨和部门间的比较利益的存在,在一定程度上抑制了农业补贴的产出水平.最后就所得到的结论对农业补贴的补贴范围、补贴方式和补贴额度提出了相关的政策改革建议.     

IISE Engineering Economy Division 2016 town hall meeting minutes

In this article, we study the use of the international standard for measuring the generosity of research and development tax subsidies, the B-index, as a predictor of the effectiveness of a subsidy. We find a close relationship, with some modifications of the B-index required. We demonstrate how a synthesis of the B-index and a structural model of a firm's wealth-maximizing behavior can be used to evaluate policy proposals regarding modifications to the research and development tax credit.     

Verteilungswirkungen des EEG

The Renewal Energies Act has so far been one of the cornerstones of the energy revolution. As a result of the Act the production of electricity from renewable sources has been considerably increased. As the most expensive forms of renewable energies have grown fastest, average costs have not shrunk but have risen significantly. The ongoing growth led to increasing subsidies for renewable energies and growing costs for electricity consumers in business and private households. It would be insufficient to look at absolute cost developments only, as distribution effects may be critical. As electricity consumption only slightly depends on household income, higher income leads to lower significance of electricity costs. Therefore, low income households bear a relatively higher burden of costs for renewable energies. Furthermore, wealthy households could benefit from the subsidies as they can invest in renewable energy systems.     

建设绩效考评体系 提高税式支出效益

面对纷繁复杂的税式支出,如何避免税式支出的滥用,堵塞税收流失的漏洞,进行科学有效地管理和监督,以充分发挥税式支出的引导和激励作用,切实提高税式支出效益,已成为政府和社会各界共同关注的问题。在对税式支出绩效考评体系的基本理念、实施流程和建设效益进行综合分析的基础上,论证了建设科学、合理、有效的税式支出绩效考评体系是提高税式支出效益的必要举措这一科学论断。     

Targeting agricultural research and extension for food security and poverty alleviation: A case study of fish farming in Central Cameroon

Over 5 years of participatory on-farm research, market access, profitability, farming systems productivity and economic sustainability were compared on 100 small-scale farms in Central Cameroon. Integration technology based on the use of agricultural by-products as fishpond inputs was the driver for intensification. Over all farms, fishpond productivity increased from 498 kg to 1609 kg fish/ha (2145 kg/ha/yr). During the project period, the number of active fish farmers increased from 15 to 192 (including 55 farms which participated only through information exchange). Over all farms, net returns from aquaculture increased by 5 times over pre-project levels. Productivity, intensity and profitability increased more significantly in periurban areas with good market access, compared to rural areas. Among farmers with good market access, average net income from the aquaculture enterprise rose from $118 up to $1485. Research-Extension Team (RET) support cost an average of $61,300 per year. Over 5 years, rural farmers recaptured 23% of the relevant RET investment compared to 442% by periurban farmers. Likewise, increase in production attributable to RET intervention was higher for periurban (253%) compared to rural (11.3%) fish farmers. Within 3 years of the end of extension support, rural farmers had returned to pre-project production levels, whereas periurban farms had better maintained their productivity and profitability. Findings indicate that, in areas with little or no access to markets, the number of fishponds and fish farmers can be increased and yields improved, increasing local food supplies, but sustainability in the absence of extension subsidies is questionable. To achieve either of the two principal goals for the sector, food security and/or poverty alleviation, investments need to be made in improving the availability of quality technical assistance to targeted farmers and finding means of reducing social conflict arising from perceived inequalities in the accrual of the benefits of development.     

Property Taxes and Residential Rents

Property taxes are a fundamental source of revenue for local governments, constituting 73% of local government tax revenue in the United States. In this article, we empirically investigate the impact of residential property taxes on residential rents. Using data from the American Housing Survey and the National League of Cities, we estimate numerous specifications of a hedonic rent equation with comprehensive unit-level, neighborhood-level and city-level controls. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the property tax rate raises residential rents by roughly $400 annually.     

The Danish tax on saturated fat – Short run effects on consumption,substitution patterns and consumer prices of fats

Denmark introduced a tax on saturated fat in food products with effect from October 2011. The objective of this paper is to make an effect assessment of this tax for some of the product categories most significantly affected by the new tax, namely fats such as butter, butter-blends, margarine and oils. This assessment is done by conducting an econometric analysis on weekly food purchase data from a large household panel dataset (GfK Panel Services Denmark), spanning the period from January 2008 until July 2012.The econometric analysis suggest that the introduction of the tax on saturated fat in food products has had some effects on the market for the considered products, in that the level of consumption of fats dropped by 10–15%. Furthermore, the analysis points at shifts in demand from high price supermarkets towards low-price discount stores – at least for some types of oils and fats, a shift that seems to have been utilised by discount chains to raise the prices of butter and margarine by more than the pure tax increase. Due to the relatively short data period with the tax being active, interpretation of these findings from a long-run perspective should be done with considerable care. It is thus recommended to repeat – and broaden – the analysis at a later stage, when data are available for a longer period after the introduction of the fat tax.     

Can targeted food taxes and subsidies improve the diet? Distributional effects among income groups

This paper analyses distributional effects of revenue-neutral tax reforms aimed at improving dietary quality and encouraging healthier grain consumption. Using data on household grain purchases, we analyse both the impact on dietary quality and the tax incidence among income groups of VAT reforms and excise duty reforms. The VAT reforms include subsidies of healthy products (products labelled with the Swedish National Food Administration’s healthy symbol) funded by increased VAT on ‘less healthy’ products. The excise duty reforms contain a subsidy of fibre content, funded by excise duties on either added sugar or saturated fat. Our results suggest that the VAT reforms have a similar impact on dietary quality across all income groups, with increases in fibre intake, but also unwanted increases in the intake of nutrients frequently overconsumed: fat, salt and sugar. The impact on dietary quality of the VAT reforms is therefore difficult to evaluate. With the exception of the lowest income group, the excise duty reforms seem to have a positive health effect across all other income groups, with increases in the intake of fibre and reductions in the intake of saturated fat, sugar and added sugar. For the lowest income group we find the highest increase in the intake of fibre, but generally an increase in the intake of the other nutrients, too. The excise duty reforms also result in a more energy-dense grain diet, with increases in the intake of calories for all income groups. Both the VAT reforms and the excise duty reforms appear to be progressive. The lowest income group pays less food taxes and generally faces a lower overall post-reform price level. The income group that increases its tax payments most is the one with the highest income. This is also the income group that faces the largest increase in the overall post-reform price level.     

供给侧改革中资源与能源行业去产能政策效果研究

中国经济历经复苏和快速增长阶段后,部分产业出现产能过剩现象,产业结构的不均衡变化导致了GDP增速放缓。2016年初中国政府提出供给侧结构性改革,旨在通过“三去一降一补”政策调整产业结构,刺激经济发展。本文构建了一个包含资源与能源产业的一般均衡模型,量化分析中国供给侧结构性改革的政策效果。研究表明,在去产能政策削减上游资源产业的产出后,政策冲击会传导至下游能源产业,导致化石能源相对于绿色能源产量下降14.04%,能源结构实现优化。随后的政策对比实验引入了新能源补贴、碳排放税征收及资源税收缴等财政手段,与去产能政策进行效果对比。实验结果显示,3种政策在不同程度上实现了能源结构调整,其中征收碳税的政策使化石能源占比降幅最大,但同时会使资本利率上升,加重企业融资成本;新能源补贴与资源税的政策也可以实现调控目标,但与去产能政策相比效果更弱。     

Debt Capacity of Real Estate Collateral

We study whether real estate assets have a greater positive influence on firm leverage than other tangible assets. Using a large sample of COMPUSTAT firms, we find a significant positive relation between tangibility and leverage in general, and the relation is strongest for real estate collateral. Furthermore, we find that the relation holds only for credit‐constrained firms, i.e., those likely to highly value the additional borrowing capacity of real estate. Our results imply that knowing the composition of a firm's tangible assets is important in understanding its leverage. Our findings could help explain why real estate investment trusts are relatively highly leveraged, even though debt offers them no tax benefit.     

On food security and the economic valuation of food

The paper presents an economic evaluation of food and the cost of food insecurity. Building on behavioral regularities of consumer behavior, the analysis estimates the benefit of food at the individual level and at the world level. It finds an inverted-U relationship between food benefit and income. At the individual level, the “food benefit/income” ratio starts at 0 under extreme poverty, increases with income to reach a maximum of 4.4 when income per capita is around $13,000, and then declines slowly as income rises. The paper shows very large aggregate net benefit of food. The analysis also evaluates the cost of food insecurity. It shows that aversion to food insecurity is pervasive, the coefficient of relative risk aversion to food insecurity being around 2.7. The analysis evaluates empirically the cost of food insecurity. We report the cost of food insecurity under alternative scenarios, documenting that it can be large in situations of exposure to significant downside risk.