In 1918, the Soviet revolutionary government repudiated the Tsarist regime's sovereign debt, triggering one of the biggest sovereign defaults ever. Yet the price of Russian bonds remained high for years. Combing French archival records, Kim Oosterlinck shows that, far from irrational, investors had legitimate reasons to hope for repayment. Soviet debt recognition, a change in government, a bailout by the French government, or French banks, or a seceding country would have guaranteed at least a partial reimbursement. As Greece and other European countries raise the possibility of sovereign default, Oosterlinck's superbly researched study is more urgent than ever.

This book is a practical guide to the subject of tax due diligence. It shows that tax due diligence is not a commodity, leading the reader through the process and explaining, at each stage, how to extract the maximum value from tax due diligence. Covering a wide range of transaction scenarios, the book deals with every aspect of tax due diligence. It is written from a UK perspective with reference to UK legislation. It also discusses cross border issues, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines, and contains a chapter on an international survey of publicly available information. Contents include: what tax due diligence is and what it is not * the different circumstances in which tax due diligence is required and the implications of each * planning tax due diligence * defining scope and avoiding unnecessary tax due diligence * managing the tax due diligence process * obtaining and analyzing information * how best to address issues identified by tax due diligence * making the most of limited information tax due diligence in asset deals.

This book explores the system of financing local governments in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Using evidence from the last two decades, the authors, experts on their particular countries, describe the development of the current local government finance system in each nation, and the major challenges and policy options they face. The contributions in this book provide comprehensive coverage of a transitional Europe that encompasses both modern local public finance theory and specific applications in the target countries. The book is a recommended read not only for students of local government and local public finance, but also practitioners and all those who have to deal with the accountability and financial issues at local government level in Central and Eastern Europe.

The history of customs duties reflects the development of the Qing fiscal system, especially in its transition from a rather traditional to a more modern economy. Mainly based on Qing archives, this book, the first research monograph on this subject in the English language, not only gives a brief introduction of each customs post's transformation over time, but also provides the complete statistical data of each of these post over the Qing dynasty. Contributors are: Bas van Leeuwen, Bozhong Li, Maaten Duijvendak, Martin Uebele, Peter Foldvari, Yi Xu.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought enormous political, economic, and social challenges. Since 1991 fiscal reform has been a pillar of Russia's reform agenda. This book analyzes the effort to adopt a modern tax code where previously there were few recognizable taxes, establish an efficient tax administration where taxpayers had never paid taxes directly, and decentralize the system of governance where power had been centralized and dictatorial. Despite the remarkable achievements, many old and new challenges remain. The authors bring an analytical approach to fiscal reform in Russia, providing a detailed analysis of the tax system and estimates of tax compliance and evasion. The book offers a careful examination of the fiscal architecture of Russia and concludes with a presentation of remaining reform needs and options for Russia. Based on Russia's reform experience, the authors also draw lessons for fiscal reform in other developing and transitional countries. Given the dynamic nature of Russia's economic development, this book will prove a timely and informative resource for academics in economics, public finance, political science and public administration as well as for policy makers. Its lessons will also be useful for officials involved with finance in transition and developing countries.

Which programmes of income redistribution across jurisdictions are likely to be chosen in democratic countries and why? How does the degree of government centralization affect these choices? How does redistribution of income across regions interact with the migration of factors of production? Do these processes reinforce or do they obstruct each other, and why? This book tries to answer these questions and others related to the issue of income redistribution across states and regions. The book adopts a positive, public choice approach in the theoretical analysis and tests the predictions on evidence drawn from a highly centralized country (Italy) and a highly decentralized one (the United States). The Politics and Economics of Regional Transfers will be of great interest to scholars of economics, public finance and public choice. Students of economics, economic development, political economy, regional and local economics, public finance and public choice will also find it of interest, as will policy analysts.

This book contributes to the current debates on the shadow economy and related issues of tax evasion and corruption. The approach taken here is one that will develop a better understanding of these related issues, which are increasingly seen as impediments to country competitiveness and economic growth. Economists and policymakers are increasingly focused on how the shadow economy operates. The contributors discuss how effective corporate governance may help to reduce both the occurrence and effects of illegal activities. The book begins by considering institutional governance and how issues such as economic growth and development can be better understood by gaining a deeper understanding of the decision-making process. The importance of collective persuasion and collective decision-making in an institutional context is illustrated. The remainder of the work details a series of empirical studies outlining the role of governance and institutional capacity in assessing economic performance, the role of political competition in reducing corruption and measures of, and influences on, corruption in different countries around the world. Institutions such as the WTO, World Bank and the IMF will find much to engage them in this book as will policy makers in government and research policy agencies. It will also hold great appeal to academics (postgraduate and above) in the fields of political economy, economic development and international economics.

The study of urban political economy needs no justification, for cities are the heart (and arguably the soul) of our civilization, and their political and economic conditions are the linchpins of its existence. But how should we study urban political economy? Urban Political Economy deals with different nations - Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway, the UK. and the USA - and with different problems - expenditure patterns, service provision, economic development, fiscal strain, budgetary cuts, and borrowing systems - but they all agree on two fundamental points about the study of their subject matter: first, that the urban economy cannot be understood outside its political context, just as urban politics cannot be understood without its economic background; and second, that the local and the national are knitted together so closely and so tightly that it is necessary to think of them as forming a single system. Urban Political Economy explores the idea of the fusion of factors by demonstrating the extent to which local and national conditions react upon one another to analyze the urban political economy.

Sustainable and inclusive growth in emerging Asian economies requires high levels of public investment in areas such as infrastructure, education, health, and social services. The increasing complexity and regional diversity of these investment needs, together with the trend of democratization, has led to fiscal decentralization being implemented in many Asian economies. This book takes stock of some major issues regarding fiscal decentralization, including expenditure and revenue assignments, transfer programs, and the sustainability of local government finances, and develops important findings and policy recommendations. The book's expert contributors assess the current state of the allocation of expenditures and revenues between central and local governments in emerging Asian economies, and discuss their major strengths and weaknesses. They also present relevant case studies of experiences and reform measures related to strengthening and monitoring local government finance, including the implications of expanded fiscal capacity for infrastructure investment and other public spending. Covering the major Asian economies of the People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, and Japan, among others, the book focuses on the economic incentives of transfer schemes, how intergovernmental fiscal equalization works, and how subnational government borrowing regulations could influence debt dynamics and the fiscal deficits of local governments. This book's insightful analysis will be essential reading for policymakers in Asian economies, and academics and researchers in the areas of economic development, public finance, and fiscal policy as well as development aid officials, multilateral banks, and NGOs. Contributors include: S. Barrios, S.-i. Bessho, P. Chakraborty, P. Das, Z. Fan, R.K. Goel, S. Li, D. Martinez-Lopez, J. Martinez-Vazquez, P.J. Morgan, A. Nasution, J.W. Saunoris, P. Smoke, L.Q. Trinh, V. Vulovic, G. Wan, N. Yoshino, Q. Zhang

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1954.

In the "Handbook of Public Economics, vol. 5, " top scholars provide context and order to new research about mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications. These fundamental subjects follow the recent, steady movement away from rational decision-making and toward more personalized approaches to tax generation and expenditure, especially in terms of the use of psychological methods and financial incentives. Closely scrutinized subjects include new research in empirical (instead of theoretical) public finance, the methods for measuring taxes (both in revenue generation and expenditure), and the roles that taxes play in specific settings, such as emerging economies, urban settings, charitable giving, and among political entities (cities, counties, states, countries). Contributors look at both the "tax" and "expenditure" sides of public finance, emphasizing recent influences that psychology and philosophy have exerted in economics with articles on behavioral finance, charitable giving, and dynamic taxation. To a field enjoying rapid growth, their articles bring context and order, illuminating the mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications.
Editor Raj Chetty is the recipient of the 2013 John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic AssociationFocuses on new approaches to both revenue generation and expenditures in public financePresents coherent summaries of subjects in public economics that stretch from methodologies to applicationsMakes details about public economics accessible to scholars in fields outside economics

This volume presents Richard Blundell's outstanding research on the modern economic analysis of labor markets and public policy reforms. Professor Blundell's hugely influential work has enhanced greatly our understanding of how individuals' behavior on the labor market respond to taxation and social policy influence. Edited by IZA, this volume brings together the author's key papers, some co-authored and some unpublished, with new introductions and an epilogue. It covers some of the main research insights in the study of labor supply. The question of how individuals adapt their behavior in response to policy changes is one of the most investigated topics in empirical labor and public economics. Do people reduce their working hours if governments decide to raise taxes? Might they even withdraw completely from the labor market? Labor supply estimations are extensively used for various policy analyses and economic research. Labor supply elasticities are key information when evaluating tax-benefit policy reforms and their effect on tax revenue, employment, and redistribution. The chapters cover empirical and theoretical developments as well as applications to tax and welfare reform, and each represents a substantive research contribution from Blundell's publications in top research outlets.

Environmental taxes differ from each other according to the functions they serve and the manner in which they are implemented. This study highlights the appropriateness of different kinds of environmental taxes against a rigorous framework of theory and case study evidence. The purpose of this book is to analyse the way in which environmental taxes are categorized and which factors affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the different kinds of environmental taxes in practice. This pragmatic approach is emphasized along with the multiplicity of regulatory problems such as: At what level should the environmental tax rate be set? What is the proper time schedule for introducing an environmental tax? What are the most appropriate taxable characteristics and how should they be determined? What activities should be exempt from environmental taxation? How can tax relief be implemented? These are only some of the regulatory problems explored in this study, which also encompasses an examination of the theory of regulation. The author argues that economists have often paid too little attention to the administrative and legal issues concerning the implementation of legislation, such as environmental tax laws, which are of course vital to the success of any potential policy. Lawyers too have in turn neglected the theory of regulation, which would assist in analysing problems in a future-oriented way. Environmental Taxes will therefore be of great interest to a wide audience of environmental economists, law and economics scholars as well as policymakers.

In this book a distinguished group of contributors discuss the changing political economy of pension reform. They focus on those countries which have launched a significant reframing of their pension system. Each chapter provides a detailed review of recent pension reforms and offers institutional evidence of the extent to which these reforms suggest a redirection of the welfare state towards a more public-private mix of policies. The countries were selected to represent the variety of new directions which mature industrial countries as well as countries in transition have taken. The book brings to light a number of surprising developments. These include the observation that pension systems do not conform to pure models of welfare system regimes; that a number of diverse developments have contributed to the extension of private pensions; that an emerging pattern of substituting private for public pensions can be detected but public provision still dominates in transition economies and that traditional employer-provided private pension schemes are undergoing significant change. One conclusion is that the design of the pension scheme may be more important than the mix of public-private in preventing the growth of inequality among the aged. This important book will be essential reading for scholars of economics, public policy, political science and finance as well as policymakers and practitioners involved in pension system reform.

This important collection presents an authoritative selection of papers on public private partnerships. The literature is relatively new, and draws on the disciplines of both economics and engineering. As well as examining the recent experience of these schemes - whose evolution has accelerated in recent years - this insightful collection also considers the intellectual origins of the concept, and investigates the organisational and risk management aspects of PPPs. It will be an essential source of reference for all those with an interest in this topical subject. 36 articles, dating from 1991 to 2003

It is hard to think of anyone who has contributed so much and so widely to research in international public finance in the last 40 years as has Richard Bird. This volume of essays emerged from a conference dedicated to him. It also expands on our understanding of international public finance.Richard Bird's academic and applied work has always benefited from a far-reaching involvement with, and knowledge of, relevant policy issues in many countries around the world. The range of public finance issues to which he has contributed over the years covers practically the whole gamut of the public finance discipline: tax policy, tax administration, the interdependency between the two, intergovernmental fiscal relations, public expenditure policy, and fiscal management processes. The topics covered in this book reflect the wide contributions of Richard Bird to the subject of international public finance, including original reviews of intergovernmental fiscal relations, fiscal policy, and tax evasion and tax administration, all with a special focus on transition and developing countries. These essays, by top scholars in their own right, will deepen our own understanding of relevant problems and issues in international public finance, much like Richard Bird has been doing for many years, and will be of interest to economists, policymakers and students.

In this 30th volume of Advances in Taxation, editor John Hasseldine includes studies from expert contributors to explore topics such as: the stock market reaction to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; strategic repatriations made by firms; and corporate social responsibility and tax planning. Three studies separately examine individual responses to taxation including the renunciation of U.S. citizenship due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, the imposition of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, and the effects of social media on tax compliance in a developing country. Reporting peer-reviewed research contributions from the U.S., Canada, and Malaysia Advances in Taxation Volume 30 is essential reading for those looking to keep abreast of the most recent research, including empirical studies using a variety of research methods from different institutional settings and contexts