Fiscal relations between states and cities in early modern Europe is a major concern for economic and financial historians. This collection of eleven essays is based on new research using documentary evidence from local and national archives from across Europe.

This book expands on issues like fiscal sustainability, state enterprises and the variety of subsidies, with a multi-country focus. Drawing examples from numerous countries, it presents issues in contemporary finance and especially fiscal policy that can benefit researchers and civil servants from both developed, as well as developing worlds and emerging market economies.

Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book will be of interest to civil servants and practitioners. It also serves as a reference source for students and academics, and can be used as a text book for advanced courses on public finance.

This book examines questions of change and inertia in the context of the longstanding grievances over excessive taxation in rural China. How can some changes be sustained, whilst others cannot? How can a longstanding administrative practice be changed or even terminated, especially when previous attempts at change have failed? Using extensive interview data with local and central bureaucrats, Li's findings highlight the role of parallel developments and agency in the change process, as well as the prevalence of contingency and uncertainty. It also elegantly blends the narrative of the rural tax and administrative reforms with theoretical discussions to deepen our understanding of policy process and institutional change in 21st century China. Despite the authoritarian political system, the Chinese state-in-action which emerges from this book sees actions stemming from both the central and local levels, mediated by strategic design as well as contingency. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese Studies, political science and policy and development studies.

Based on the philosophy of Systems Science and the law of evolution theory, the book, by applying the methods of structural functionalism, divides the modern social system into human-culture, economy, polity, science, law, education and other sub-systems through the systematic synthesis of disciplines such as economics, sociology, management, politics, culture theories, history and philosophy, and explores the connection between these sub-systems and their intricate relation with social progress, thus depicting the historical trajectory of the long-term evolution of human social system. Starting from the actual production and operation of the firms, the author systematically analyses the organic connections and sophisticated operating process of social reproduction in modern society from micro, meso and macro, revealing the dynamic structure and evolutionary laws of the social economic system. This book reveals the fractal features such as self-similarity, hierarchy, and recursiveness in the general structure of the firm system, the sector system and the national economic system, thereby integrating micro-, meso- and macro-economics into a unified theoretical framework. This integration is interdisciplinary, and has gone beyond the economics. It can be regarded as the fourth grand synthesis in the history of economics after John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) and Samuelson (1915-2009).

The 22 papers in this volume illustrate the itinerary of Henry Tulkens on the occasion of his retirement from teaching. The volume presents contemporary analysis of Tulkens classic papers on public sector economics. The collection is structured in four parts: I. Decentralized resource allocation processes for public and private goods - II. Environment, public goods and externalities - III. Efficiency analysis - IV. Fiscal competition and optimality.

Advances in Taxation publishes relevant, quality manuscripts addressing the issues of federal, state, local and international taxation including tax compliance, tax planning, and tax policy issues among others. The series uses a wide variety of research methods, including analytical modelling, archival, experimental, survey, descriptive, and legal approaches to address the problems and issues associated with taxation. Volume 21 of Advances in Taxation continues this broad approach to taxation, looking at taxpayer compliance, state tax issues and tax policy decisions, amongst others.

Inequality and taxation are fundamental problems of modern times. How and when can democracies tax economic elites? This book develops a theoretical framework that refines and integrates the classic concepts of business's instrumental (political) power and structural (investment) power to explain the scope and fate of tax initiatives targeting economic elites in Latin America after economic liberalization. In Chile, business's multiple sources of instrumental power, including cohesion and ties to right parties, kept substantial tax increases off the agenda. In Argentina, weaker business power facilitated significant reform, although specific sectors, including finance and agriculture, occasionally had instrumental and/or structural power to defend their interests. In Bolivia, popular mobilization counterbalanced the power of economic elites, who were much stronger than in Argentina but weaker than in Chile. The book's in-depth, medium-N case analysis and close attention to policymaking processes contribute insights on business power and prospects for redistribution in unequal democracies.

This book provides an overview of the evolution and theories of the Austrian School of Economics and develops answers to current economic questions and the pressing problems of the 21st century from the Austrian perspective. Readers will learn about the fundamental ideas of the Austrian School, the current state of Austrian economics, and the intellectual figures and institutions that sustain it as a vibrant intellectual movement. International experts on Austrian economics cover topics such as the economic impact of pandemics, trade blocs, federalism and European integration, and the economic development of China. The book also discusses the influence of the Austrian School on modern economic thought and mainstream economics, as well as on policymakers. It will appeal to students and scholars of economics and to anyone interested in social and economic liberalism.

Created in 1974, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has become one of the most influential forces in national policymaking. A critical component of our system of checks and balances, the CBO has given Congress the analytical capacity to challenge the president on budget issues while it protects the public interest, providing honest numbers about Congress's own budget proposals. The book discusses the CBO's role in larger budget policy and the more narrow "scoring" of individual legislation, such as its role in the 2009--2010 Obama health care reform. It also describes how the first director, Alice Rivlin, and seven successors managed to create and sustain a nonpartisan, highly credible agency in the middle of one of the most partisan institutions imaginable.

"The Congressional Budget Office: Honest Numbers, Power, and Policy" draws on interviews with high-level participants in the budget debates of the last 35 years to tell the story of the CBO. A combination of political history, economic history, and organizational development, "The Congressional Budget Office" offers an important, first book-length history of this influential agency.

This book is the first English language edition of Le Commerce et le Gouvernement by the distinguished eighteenth century economist and philosopher Condillac. It was one of the most original contributions to French economics in the eighteenth century. In this edition the editors provide an English translation of the original and a comprehensive account of Condillac's life and contribution to economics. In the late eighteenth century Condillac used the clarity and precision of thought of a leading philosopher to derive a fundamental set of economic principles and their implications for policy. He arrived at the same free trade conclusions as Adam Smith, and Le Commerce et le Gouvernement was published in the same year as The Wealth of Nations. Condillac's economics was initially condemned by the physiocrats because in his utility-based analysis, industry and commerce and not just agriculture contributed to the wealth of France. The original French edition was quickly dismissed by those in positions of power in France who preferred dirigism to competition, while across the Channel the British were unaware of its existence. The importance of Condillac's contribution to economics was recognised after the marginal revolution of the 1870's. In the eighteenth century Condillac won the respect of Voltaire and Rousseau, and the high regard of the King and the Church. His work has since been admired by Allais, Hayek, Menger and Weulersse, while Jevons believed that it provided the first distinct statement of the true connection between value and utility. Commerce and Government will be of special interest to historians of economic thought and those interested in the economic history of the eighteenth century.

Rowman & Littlefield is proud to publish the 17th edition of what is now considered to be the most useful reference book available on the federal budget. In The Guide to the Federal Budget, Fiscal 1998, Stanley E. Collender, among a handful of people who have worked for both the House and Senate budget committees, analyzes the extensive debates surrounding the fiscal 1997 budget and explains in detail such 1998 budget challenges as the line item veto, entitlement spending, and the persistent politics of divided government. An indispensable guide for policy analysts, The Guide to the Federal Government, Fiscal 1998 is written at a level accessible to general readers and includes illuminating appendices, a revised and updated glossary of key terms, and a thorough index. With a concluding chapter entitled 'How to Read and Use the Federal Budget, ' and a new chapter on the line item veto, this book will be particularly useful for courses in Budget Politics and Analysis and Public Policy.

Over the last several decades, there has been a growing interest in theoretical, empirical, and experimental work on all aspects of tax compliance and tax evasion. The essays in this volume summarize the existing state of knowledge of tax compliance and tax evasion, present new thinking about this issue, and analyze the empirical relevance of these new perspectives. The original essays in this volume represent an attempt to provide a framework on compliance that moves beyond the economics-of-crime perspective, one that provides a more complete understanding of individual (and group) decisions, and one that is more consistent with empirical evidence.

It is the insights of behavioural economics that provide much of the bases for these essays and the main theme running through this book is that the basic model of individual choice must be expanded, by introducing some aspects of behaviour or motivation considered explicitly by other social sciences.

International taxation is a major research topic, and for a field of research at the intersection of so many disciplines there has been surprisingly little done across disciplinary boundaries. This book fills the gap by combining teams from business, economics, information science, law and political science to offer a unique and innovative approach to the issue of international tax coordination. All the chapters are written in collaboration between at least two authors from two different disciplines. This approach offers a rich and nuanced understanding of the many issues of international tax coordination. The book collects seven papers, each one a valuable contribution in itself, beginning with current problems of international taxation and finishing with potential solutions. The essays explore current EU legislation, tax avoidance and tax fraud, as well as double tax agreements, dividend repatriation and hybrid finance and tax planning. Providing methodological answers to the question of how to conduct interdisciplinary research, the book also gives an accessible introduction into research questions and answers that are important in related disciplines for scholars in various areas. This book will be of interest to postgraduates and researchers in the fields of economics, business, informational science, law and political science, as well as to professional accountants and tax lawyers.

Over the last thirty years there has been extensive use of continuous time econometric methods in macroeconomic modelling. This monograph presents the first continuous time macroeconometric model of the United Kingdom incorporating stochastic trends. Its development represents a major step forward in continuous time macroeconomic modelling. The book describes the new model in detail and, like earlier models, it is designed in such a way as to permit a rigorous mathematical analysis of its steady-state and stability properties, thus providing a valuable check on the capacity of the model to generate plausible long-run behaviour. The model is estimated using newly developed exact Gaussian estimation methods for continuous time econometric models incorporating unobservable stochastic trends. The book also includes discussion of the application of the model to dynamic analysis and forecasting.

The book brings together internationally respected specialists from economics, history and political science such as Harold James, Louis Pauly and Kenneth Mouré. First providing a short history of money doctors, the book then goes on to cover such themes as:
*the IMF and policy advice
*the Russian experience
*contemporary money doctors.
The book shows that there is still a long way to go before international financial advice develops into something that is truly helpful in the long term.

Aaron Wildavsky was one of the most innovative and prolific scholars in the field of budgeting in our time. His work spanned a period of more than forty years, and its perspectives encompassed not only budgeting in the United States, but also its comparative and historical dimensions. As a leading political scientist, his research also ranged into American political institutions, public policy analysis, leadership, and biblical studies. This book pays tribute to Aaron Wildavsky by explicating his life and work, with emphasis on his contributions to the field of public budgeting and finance.Larry Jones and Jerry McCaffery place Wildavsky's work within the context of previous work on budgeting. They show how some of the highlights of his immense output responded to and shaped questions in the field. Naomi Caiden reviews the way in which Wildavsky used budgeting as a window into other areas of politics. Richard Rose discusses how an American scholar became an internationally known one. Joseph White goes back to the beginning of Aaron's career and shows that budgeting in agencies and in Congress is still incremental for very powerful reasons. Allen Schick reviews the history of the federal budget process, brilliantly summarizing how much has changed.The festschrift poignantly assesses the significance and influence of Aaron Wildavsky's work. It also includes some excerpts from Wildavsky's own writings in this area, and experiences of those who collaborated with him. In acknowledging Wildavsky's contributions to public budgeting and political science, this book also makes an original contribution to the field. It will be a necessary addition to the libraries of political scientists, economists, policymakers, not to mention all those who admired Aaron Wildavsky and his work.

In recent times not only have traditional areas of public economics such as taxation, public expenditure, public sector pricing, benefit cost analysis, and fiscal federalism thrown up new challenges but entirely new areas of research and inquiry have emerged. This second edition builds upon the strengths of the previous edition and incorporates results of research on new areas such as global public goods, environmental taxation and carbon permits trading and the complexities of corporate taxation in a rapidly globalizing world.

The book is a modern and comprehensive exposition of public economics. It includes extended discussions on topics of particular interest to developing countries and covers subjects such as:

• taxation in an economy with a large informal sector
• the challenges of using VAT
• the use of randomized evaluation
• theory of public expenditure and public goods including global public goods
• incentive effects of taxation and tax incidence

This book discusses the major traditional areas of taxation and public expenditure as well as emerging issues relating to public economics in the globalized world economy. It will be useful as a reference and update on the modern literature on public economics for professional economists and policymakers, as well as providing invaluable information as a basic text for undergraduate and graduate students in public economics.

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past fifty years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging and developing economies.

The very word taxes sends shivers up spines. Yet, very few realize the tremendous impact that taxation has had on civilization. Charles Adams changes that in this fascinating history. Taxation, says Mr. Adams, has been a catalyst of history, the powerful influence if not the direct cause of many of the famous events of history that have marched across the world's stage as empires collided and battled for the right to tax the loser. For Good and Evil is the first book to examine how taxation has been a key factor in world events. Like the Rosetta Stone - a tax document - the book sheds fresh light onto much of history. Did you know that biblical Israel split after Solomon's death because his son refused to cut taxes? That Rome rose to greatness due to a liberal tax regime but declined under corrupt and inefficient ones? That in Britain, Lady Godiva made her famous ride as a tax protest? That in Switzerland William Tell shot the apple off his son's head as punishment for tax resistance? Or that Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, was a Customs House? Combining facts with thought-provoking comment he frequently draws parallels between tax events of the past and those of the present. Finding fault with the way Western civilization is taxed, Adams provides ideas for curing those faults by using the valuable lessons that history has taught. The special value of this refreshing new look at history lies in the lessons to be drawn by all thinking taxpayers. "Taxes are the fuel that makes civilization run, but how we tax and spend determines to a large extent whether we are prosperous or poor, free or enslaved, and most importantly, good or evil". Once you read ForGood and Evil, you'll never feel the same about taxes!

This volume contains a stimulating collection of analytical studies focusing on taxation in Mozambique. It tells a compelling story about tax systems in a low income economy increasingly integrated into the world trading system, but very much dependent on foreign trade taxes and international development assistance.

Key issues covered include:

• A better understanding of the historical background of tax reforms in a representative African economy (Mozambique) along with an assessment of taxation performance in a comparative perspective.
• Insights into the practice and implications of tax policy, both from the perspective of the consumer and the firm level.
• Discussion of the existing institutional set up in which tax policy and its enforcement operate and analyses of current tax practices.
• Taxation themes at the border and at domestic level, which are typical for low-income economies, characterized by a high degree of reliance on foreign trade taxes.

This volume is meant as a guide for developing country government officials and professional aid practitioners as well as academics, researchers and tax policy analysts working in the development field. It will also be of interest to students of development with a special interest in public finance issues in poor countries and how to improve policy-effectiveness, including tax policy, in a developing country setting.

This book develops a number of analytical models and presents empirical analyses of the equity and efficiency effects of existing indirect taxes from New Zealand. Potential tax reforms including environmental taxes are also examined and the methods presented can easily be adapted to deal with other countries. Policy debates are inevitably influenced by value judgements, which are seldom made explicit either by governments or those engaging in public discussion. By concentrating on the empirical orders of magnitude, and by examining the implications of adopting alternative value judgements, the findings of this book contribute towards rational policy debate, rather than relying on guesswork and rhetoric. The equity and efficiency effects of indirect taxes are examined in detail, using the central concepts of welfare changes, the excess burden of taxation, and money metric utility measures. The indirect taxes examined include a carbon tax designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The Distributional Effects of Indirect Taxes develops widely applicable models and will therefore appeal to economists interested in public economics, tax policy, inequality measurement, welfare economics and tax modelling. Economists in government departments and international agencies interested in public finance and inequality and poverty measurement will also find much to engage them in this book, as will policymakers concerned with indirect and environmental tax policy, inequality, and welfare economics.

The subnational dimension of infrastructure has emerged as one of the greatest challenges in contemporary public finance policy and management. Ensuring the efficient provision of infrastructure represents a challenge for all countries irrespective of their level of centralization or decentralization. This book proposes an innovative approach for the strengthening of decentralized public investment and infrastructure management. Decentralization and Infrastructure in the Global Economy: From Gaps to Solutions covers the most important aspects of infrastructure investment in a decentralized setting. It discusses infrastructure gaps and the quality of subnational spending; how functional responsibilities, financing and equalization can be designed; sector-specific arrangements in high expenditure areas, such as health, education and roads; key steps of the public investment cycle and management; and analyses the political economy and corruption challenges that typically accompany decentralized infrastructure projects. This book challenges some of the well-accepted principles of intergovernmental fiscal relations and will be useful to researchers and practitioners of public finance policy and management.

Does the European Union need closer fiscal integration, and in particular a stronger fiscal centre, to become more resilient to economic shocks? This book looks at the experience of 13 federal states to help inform the heated debate on this issue. It analyses in detail their practices in devolving responsibilities from the subnational to the central level, compares them to those of the European Union, and draws lessons for a possible future fiscal union in Europe. More specifically, this book tries to answer three sets of questions: What is the role of centralized fiscal policies in federations, and hence the size, features and functions of the central budget? What institutional arrangements are used to coordinate fiscal policy between the federal and subnational levels? What are the links between federal and subnational debt, and how have subnational financing crises been handled, when they occurred? These policy questions are critical in many federations, and central to the current discussions about future paths for the European Union. This book brings to the table new, practical insights through a systematic and comprehensive comparison of the EU fiscal framework with that of federal states. It also departs from the decentralization perspective that has been prominent in the literature by focusing on the role of the centre (which responsibilities are centralized at the federal level and how they are handled, rather than which functions belong to the local level). Such an approach is particularly relevant for the European Union, where a fiscal union would imply granting new powers to the centre.

'This is one of those rare technical books which has an importance outside its own field' The Daily Telegraph.
'One of the most stimulating post-war books on public finance' The Guardian.
Part 1 examines the issue of Expenditure Tax in principle and includes chapters on the following:
* Income, Expenditure and Taxable Capacity
* The Concept of Income in Economic Theory
* Taxation and Savings
* Taxation and risk-bearing
* Taxation and the Incentive to Work
* Company Taxation
* Taxation and Economic Progress
Part 2 examines the issue of Expenditure Tax in practice, asking whether personal expenditure tax is practicable and putting forward a proposal for Surtax Reform.

This key volume explores how party and campaign finance in post-communist countries have influenced the development of the party system. Based on an analysis of nine case studies, the work examines how the implementation of public finance affects the pattern of party competition and the role of money in elections. One of the lessons from the post-communist experience is that, no matter how well-designed, public finance systems are subject to constant revision as parties, politicians and business elites exploit loopholes which can undermine the integrity of the entire system. Party and campaign finance systems must therefore be considered in a larger discussion involving party regulation and electoral rules.