Redistribution with Unobservable Bequests: A Case for Taxing Capital Income

This paper addresses the question of the optimal taxation of labour and interest income in an overlapping generations model with two unobservable characteristics, ability and inheritance. We assume realistically that saving can only be taxed anonymously, whereas the tax on labour earnings can be individualized and made non-linear. In such a setting, we show that a withholding tax on interest income along with a non-linear tax on labour income is desirable. The role of interest income taxation is to indirectly tax inherited wealth.
JEL Classification D 63, H 2     

Competition in Communication Networks: Pricing and Regulation

By any measure, the communication sector is important. It isno surprise, then, that the communication sector has attractedthe attention of both policy-makers and economists. In thispaper, we argue that four characteristics of the networks thatdeliver communication services make this area of particularinterest. We analyse the implications of networks' cost structures;the strong complementarity between their components; the demand-sideexternalities that arise from consumption of their services;and the social obligations attached to them. Despite the attentionthat the communication sector has received, many aspects ofcompetition between networks are still poorly understood. Weidentify some of the key issues that will continue to troubleregulators and interest academics.     

Differences between students and non‐students' willingness to donate to a charitable organisation

• This paper reports on a comparative study of students and non‐students that investigates which psycho‐social factors influence intended donation behaviour within a single organisation that offers multiple forms of donation activity. Additionally, the study examines which media channels are more important to encourage donation. A self‐administered survey instrument was used and a sample of 776 respondents recruited. Logistic regressions and a Chow test were used to determine statistically significant differences between the groups. For donating money, importance of charity and attitude towards charity influence students, whereas only importance of need significantly influences non‐students. For donating time, no significant influences were found for non‐students, however, importance of charity and attitude towards charity were significant for students. Importance of need was significant for both students and non‐students for donating goods, with importance of charity also significant for students. Telephone and television channels were important for both groups. However, Internet, email and short messaging services were more important for students, providing opportunities to enhance this group's perceptions of the importance of the charity, and the importance of the need, which ultimately impacts on their attitudes towards the charity. These differences highlight the importance of charities focussing on those motivations and attitudes that are important to a particular target segment and communicating through appropriate media channels for these segments.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

VALUING REDUCED RISKS TO CHILDREN: THE CASE OF BICYCLE SAFETY HELMETS

The protection of children's health has recently become a mandated priority for federal policy makers. To assess many of the regulations that affect children's health, policy makers need estimates of the monetary value of reducing mortality risks to children. Although the economics literature has provided many estimates of the value of statistical life (VSL) for adult populations, it has provided none for school age children. This article studies the market for bicycle safety helmets and estimates for the first time a separate but comparable VSL for children and adults. We derive three estimates of VSL for each of three age categories (5 to 9, 10 to 14, and 20 to 59) that range from $1.1 to $4.0 million. In all cases, estimates for adults are highest, followed by estimates for the youngest children.     

Inter-Governmental Fiscal Relations: The Facilitator of Fiscal Decentralization

The decentralization of fiscal authority to lower level jurisdictions contributes to the efficient delivery of public services, but conflicts with national objectives. This paper argues that the system of fiscal relations, including both the grant structure and institutions for policy coordination, are necessary for achieving the full benefits of fiscal decentralization while preserving national efficiency and equity objectives. The case for decentralization is recounted, along with the ways it can impinge upon efficiency and equity in the national economy. These adverse effects can be mitigated by appropriate fiscal transfers, both equalizing and conditional, and suitable measures of policy harmonization.     

Restaurant employees and food safety compliance: motivation comes from within

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of restaurant employee internal belief systems on their motivation to comply with food safety guidelines in restaurants. Food safety training programs and those offered by third-party vendors are commonplace in the industry, yet despite the expectations of employees to engage in safe food handling, not all are motivated to do so. To date, research has yet to be conducted on the impact of employees’ individual belief systems and their motivations to comply with safe food-handling practices expected by both their employer and local health agencies. This study posits that individuals either possess an internal values system committed to food safety compliance or they do not; and, that individually oriented beliefs and norms have a significant influence on organizational efforts to implement an effective food safety culture. Practical and academic implications are discussed in detail.     

Corporate Charitable Contributions: A Corporate Social Performance or Legitimacy Strategy?

This study examines the relation between firms’ corporate philanthropic giving and their performance in three other social domains – employee relations, environmental issues, and product safety. Based on a sample of 384 U.S. companies and using data pooled from 1998 through 2000, we find that worse performers in the other social areas are both more likely to make charitable contributions and that the extent of their giving is larger than for better performers. Analyses of each separate area of social performance, however, indicate that the relation between giving and negative social performance (cited concerns) only holds for the environmental issues and product safety areas. We find no significant association between corporate philanthropy and employee relations concerns. In general, these findings suggest that corporate philanthropy may be more a tool of legitimization than a measure of corporate social responsibility.