bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dispersion stability analysis of vegetable oil-based ionanolubricants
Authors: Kumar Gitesh , Garg H. C.
Published: May 2024

Recently, environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs) developed from vegetable oils are more widely used in the field of lubrication technology as an alternative to mineral and synthetic oils. The homogeneous and long-term stability of additives in base lubricants is a crucial requirement for potential applications of vegetable oil-based ionanolubricants (INLs). In this study, the INLs have been formulated with two vegetable oils, rice bran oil and sesame oil containing TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and two ionic liquids IL1, 1-ethyl 3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide [EMIM][DCN] and IL2, trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(24,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate ([P66614][BTMPP]) with surfactants. The main objective is to find the suitable surfactant among sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), Tween 20 (T-20), and Triton X-100 (TX-100) and its optimum additives to surfactant ratio. Dispersion stability of INLs has been investigated by using visual monitoring and dynamic light scattering. The analysis showed that additives start agglomeration and make larger clusters on the 10th and 20th days of formulation, respectively. On the 30th day of formulation, the larger clusters settle down in the bottom due to gravity. However, in spite of this pattern, the additives remain stable in vegetable oils at particular optimum additives to surfactant ratio. Four stable samples were recorded on the basis of dispersion stability analysis. Rice bran oil and IL1-based INLs having additives to TX-100 of 1:2 have found long-term stability. Additives to SDS ratios of 1:6 was found optimum for rice bran oil and IL2-based INLs. Similarly, for sesame oil-based INLs, the additives to T-20 ratios of 1:4 and 1:2 are found optimum for IL1 and IL2, respectively.
Tech trends: Wired’s treatment of emerging technologies (2021-2023)
Authors: Echauri Guillermo
Published: May 2024

This article analyzes Wired’s treatment of three emerging technologies: NFTs, the metaverse, and generative AI, as reflected in the content of their website during the period 2021–2023. Through thematic analysis, the research has found that Wired’s treatment of these three technologies participates in the emergence of hype trends while also departs from the techno-deterministic perspective historically attributed to the magazine by scholarship. Therefore, the study establishes that Wired’s treatment of the characteristics and implications of NFTs, the metaverse, and generative AI involves this journalistic outlet in shaping journalistic, digital, and technological trends that reinforce a sense of constant updating in technological innovation. In addition, it has been found that Wired provides a heterogeneous, comprehensive, and moderate treatment by recognizing the potential of these technologies to impact various aspects of human existence while subjecting them to criticism.
The creation of the Muraka, a Maldivian underwater hotel: A story of sea life, more-than-human architecture, and alloútopic tourism
Authors: Vannini Phillip , Vannini April
Published: May 2024

Answering Huijbens and Jóhannesson’s call to investigate tourist destination development through a relational ontology marked by a vital materialism, this paper focuses on the creation of the Muraka. The Muraka is the underwater villa of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island—an ultra-luxury resort located in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll. No social scientific research has ever been conducted at underwater hotels. Drawing upon fieldwork at the Muraka—part of a broader project on three underwater hotels (conducted in Singapore, Tanzania, and the Maldives), we aim to contribute original knowledge to more-than-human geographies and tourist studies by bringing attention to the architectural relations that entangle underwater hotels with their environments. In doing so we become attuned to more-than-human lives and create narratives that can help us imagine new relations with the planet both within and beyond the realm of tourist encounters. By focusing in particular on the creation of the Muraka through the lens of the original concept of alloutopia, we contribute to non-representational and more-than-human perspectives on tourism
Multisource information fusion model for deformation safety monitoring of earth and rock dams based on deep graph feature fusion
Authors: Tian Jichen , Li Yanling , Luo Yonghua , Zhang Han , Lu Xiang
Published: May 2024

Constructing a long-term deformation monitoring model for earth–rock dams that integrates multisource monitoring information is highly important for enhancing the safety state evaluation and monitoring effectiveness of such dams. In this paper, we propose a new health monitoring model named the deformation–seepage–water level multimeasurement point health monitoring (DSW-MPHM) model for earth–rock dams based on deep graph feature fusion. This model fuses coupled seepage, deformation, and water level features from different monitoring sites of the dam body, base, and shoulder. To achieve this goal, we first establish a new module to fuse spatial and temporal features using graph convolutional networks and long short-term memory. Seepage features and water level features are then extracted using graph attention mechanisms. Subsequently, we employ the feature fusion technique, which incorporates principal component analysis and gated fusers, to construct the DSW-MPHM model, which effectively fuses information from multiple sources. This novel approach successfully addresses the issues of information redundancy and the limited reliability of monitoring models. To verify the validity of the model, it is applied to an endoscopic deformation monitoring program of a panel rockfill dam with a height of 185.5 m. The results demonstrate the superior stability and effectiveness of the proposed method compared to those of 10 baseline prediction models. Additionally, the characterization of the seepage and water level features extracted from the model is verified for its reasonableness. Thus, our proposed model is well suited for practical engineering applications.
The Ethics of Taxation
Authors: Foldvary Fred E.
Published: May 2024

The judgment of taxation by ethical standards requires a universally applicable ethic. Such an ethic, natural moral law, can be derived using the Lockean framework based on equality. By this universal ethic, persons have property rights in their bodies and lives, and thus in their labor. the taxation of wages and of products of labor are therefore morally wrong. the equality premise, combined with the Lockean proviso on land, leads to the conclusion that public revenues may be justly obtained from the rental benefit of natural resources. Voluntary user fees and invasion penalties such as pollution charges are also morally proper sources for public finances.
Symposium on Anti-Poverty Programs
Authors: Gouveia Miguel
Published: May 2024

Developed countries in general and European countries in particular devote a substantial share of national resources to income redistribution programs that seek to alleviate and reduce poverty. This Symposium contributes to the analysis of such programs. It presents three papers written in a perspective that reflects European concerns with both social policies and analytical rigor. in particular the papers deal with the costs and consequences of anti-poverty programs no only in terms of the effectiveness in achieving poverty reduction but also looking at other impacts on welfare.
The Strange Case of the Public Sector Wage Premium
Authors: Panizza Ugo
Published: May 2024

Empirical work suggests the presence of a public sector wage premium. This paper investigates the theoretical reasons for the presence of such a premium. the results of the paper are consistent with the higher premium paid to women and with the fact that the premium decreases with skills. the key insight of the paper is that job security undermines the incentive to work hard and forces the public sector to pay higher wages. One implication of the paper is that the public sector wage premium can be used as an indicator of inefficiency of the public sector.
School Finance Reform and Housing Values
Authors: Brunner Eric J. , Murdoch James , Thayer Mark
Published: May 2024

Over the past 25 years California has transformed its system of public school finance from one of the least equitable in the nation to one of the most equitable. This paper examines the impact of that transformation on housing values. Specifically, we use data on residential housing sales from Los Angeles County for the years 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1990, to answer three fundamental questions related to the impact of school finance reform on housing values. First, were reform-induced changes in district resources capitalized into housing values? Second, did the equalization of resources across districts lead to a convergence in school district housing price premiums? Third, and perhaps most importantly, if so, was the convergence in school district housing price premiums the result of a leveling-up or a leveling-down of school district quality? Our results indicate that the answers to the first two questions are both yes – reform-induced changes in spending per pupil were capitalized into housing values and resource equalization has led to a convergence in housing values. Perhaps most importantly, however, our results indicate that the convergence in school district housing price premiums was the result of a leveling-down of school district quality.
Environmental Taxes in Developing and Transition Economies
Authors: Bluffstone Randall A.
Published: May 2024

This paper presents the theory of environmental taxation with special reference to developing countries (DC) and countries with economies in transition (TC). A review of the literature shows there exist several examples of environmental taxes being used to reduce environmentally harmful behavior. Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and China have large-scale systems of pollution taxes and other countries are also experimenting with this type of instrument, particularly to reduce water pollution. Several countries have used taxes on environmentally harmful products, such as transport fuels, to raise revenues and reduce pollution. Challenges are associated with the use of environmental taxes in developing and transition countries, but the evidence suggests that despite shortcomings these instruments are making important contributions to environmental protection and economic efficiency.
The New Wealth Package for Community Economic Development: Generating Value in Distressed Urban Communities
Authors: Blakely Edward J.
Published: May 2024

This paper applies arbitrage theory as a means of valuing assets in urban low-income communities. the reason for this is that capital and wealth formation has become increasingly important, as inner city areas become more robust marketplaces. Increasingly, community based institutions and organizations are being challenged to develop new approaches for creating self-sustaining capital from internal community assets. Until recently, low income and distressed communities attracted resources by showcasing their deficits and the lack of marketable asserts. Today, however, with new immigration and the opening of inner-city areas to new private capital, community based institutions and organizations must find ways to value previously undervalued assets as a means of capturing the wealth they represent and holding them in the community as a new treasury for capitalizing future development. in this paper, I argue that one means of realizing wealth is capitalizing and securtizing the increased value associated with the improved value of all forms of rising in value community based assets through the use of arbitrage methods that use the notion of increased values to form new tradable capital stock that is transferable as well as capturable internally to generate new wealth.
Fiscal Federalism in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Subsidiarity and Solidarity in A Three-Nation State
Authors: Fox William , Wallich Christine
Published: May 2024

The Dayton agreement included a carefully designed intergovernmental structure in the plan for bringing the hostilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to an end. This paper describes the resulting high degree of subsidiarity in the government and investigates its consequences. the very devolved government structure combined with the sociological federalism in operation have resulted in inefficiencies in service delivery, diseconomies of small scale, and large horizontal imbalances, at least in the short run. Further, the highly decentralized government, though essential to reaching an initial agreement, does not appear to have enhanced the prospects for solidarity. Still, pressure from the international community, and specifically the EU, together with the recommendations identified in this paper are important steps in fostering nationhood for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Imrpoving Public Sector Performance Management: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
Authors: Heinrich Carolyn J.
Published: May 2024

This empirical study of the performance management system in the U.S. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program identifies challenges and prospects for implementing performance management systems effectively in public agencies. the analyses of performance standard setting processes and relationships among standards and state performance levels demonstrate that setting performance targets is a key task that determines the nature of incentives in the performance management system. in the absence of regular adjustments to performance standards for changing local conditions, the WIA system appeared to promote increased risk for program managers rather than shared accountability. Program managers, in response, appeared to make undesirable post-hoc accommodations to improve measured performance.
Recovering from A Tidal Wave: New Directions for Performance Management in New Zealand's Public Sector
Authors: Norman Richard
Published: May 2024

In a tidal wave of reform during the late 1980s and 1990s New Zealand comprehensively adopted the approach to public sector performance management categorized as New Public Management (NPM). Techniques drawn from business and the marketplace were used to transform a centralized public service into an array of focused providers of service and policy ‘outputs’. These reforms decentralized decision-making and emphasized efficiency and cost containment. Since the election in 1999 of a center-left coalition government, a new tide of reform has been gathering momentum, and will be underpinned by legislation before Parliament in 2004. Outcomes, collaboration and capability are the new concerns, indicating a shift of system from a laissez faire ‘financial control’ model to more centralized strategic planning.
The Determinants of the Incidence of Intergovernmental Grants: A Survey of the International Experience
Authors: Boex Jameson , Martinez-Vazquez Jorge
Published: May 2024

Although the presence of objective formula-based grants is an important component of a stable, equitable and efficient system of intergovernmental fiscal relations, the final incidence of grants is not always according to what is stated in the formula because there are other intervening institutional factors. Furthermore, the intergovernmental grant mechanism itself is often a function of the same interests or forces that ultimately drive the incidence of grant resources. This paper relates the horizontal allocation of intergovernmental grants directly to their potential underlying determinants, including normative policy issues, voter choice arguments and political considerations. An international comparison of empirical incidence studies reveals that besides local expenditure needs and local fiscal capacity, other factors including political influence and a jurisdiction's size play important and consistent roles in determining the horizontal allocation of per capita intergovernmental grants.
Do Federal Transfers Stabilize Regional Government Revenues? Evidence from Australia and Canada (1)
Authors: Boothe Paul , Kryvoruchko Iryna
Published: May 2024

This paper looks at the design of intergovernmental transfers in two mature federations, Australia and Canada, in an effort to determine empirically how well transfers in these countries mitigate shocks to regional government revenues. Two general results emerge. First, the average impact of federal transfers in Australia and Canada is not generally stabilizing for regional government revenues. Second, using the methodology of von Hagen and Hepp, we found little evidence of a marginal stabilizing impact of federal transfers on Australian state revenues. for Canada, we found evidence of somewhat larger impacts.
Understanding the Evolution of Constitutional Federalism: The Case of Australia
Authors: Grewal Bhajan , Sheehan Peter
Published: May 2024

The interest in, and the appeal of, fiscal federalism and fiscal decentralization have been increasing in recent years. At the same time many mature federations continue to evolve towards greater centralization. the reasons for the evolution of fiscal federalism towards greater centralization remain unclear, and the traditional theories of fiscal federalism shed little light on the reasons for such evolution. This paper explores the evolution of federalism in the case of Australia, in an overall framework provided by the new institutional economics – that the motivations and incentives of economic agents, and the options available to them, are influenced by the incompleteness of contracts. the paper shows how, within the context of an incomplete contract, certain key agreements about taxing powers, the attitudes of the High Court and the political strength of the Commonwealth relative to the States have driven a continuing process of centralization in Australia.
Mobility, Secession and Discrimination
Authors: Wrede Matthias
Published: May 2024

On the one hand, the right of independent secession protects single states from exploitation by the majority of states or by the entire union. on the other hand, it enables majorities in these states to discriminate after secession against ethnic, religious and political minorities which are better protected in the union as a whole. Therefore, the right of secession is a group right which possibly limits individual rights. Even if the individual right of emigration is guaranteed independently of membership, the right to secede from the union may limit the economic success of an economic and political union provided that it frightens minorities and, therefore, reduces mobility, country specific investment and productivity.
Postponement of Family Formation and Public Budget: Another Approach to Very Low Fertility in Spain
Authors: Garrido Luis J. , Malo Miguel A.
Published: May 2024

In this article, we develop a new explanation of the extremely low fertility rate in Spain (a total fertility rate below 1.3) in terms of the influence of the public budget on the postponement of family formation. We show that this postponement has dramatically decreased the ‘potential fertility’ of the Spanish population. We interpret the postponement of family formation as an adaptation to economic uncertainties due to a distribution of the public budget that favors the older population and goes against new families and new children. We propose that this distribution of the public budget is stable because of the electoral incentives provided by the distribution of public expenditure across the generations. Policy implications of this approach are discussed.
Securing Old Age: The Case for ‘Social’ Pensions in Developing Countries
Authors: Gorman Mark
Published: May 2024

With growing populations of older people in developing countries, the disproportionate numbers who are ageing in poverty is an increasing concern. During the last decade it has become more widely accepted in development circles that economic growth alone will not reduce or eliminate poverty, especially of particularly disadvantaged groups such as older people. Interest has therefore increased in the role that social protection may play in supporting vulnerable groups, both for their immediate assistance and to help provide stronger foundations for overall growth. At the same time a number of developing countries have introduced a variety of basic cash transfer schemes targeted at older people. Although the majority are aimed at those in poverty, a few have chosen to introduce universal benefits. Evidence indicates that these schemes have the potential for a positive impact on old-age poverty. Questions of affordability and feasibility need to be considered, but there is a clear case to be made for developing further programmes and international donors need to be prepared to give effective support.
Public Services and European Integration
Authors: de Lima Pascal
Published: May 2024

We first describe briefly the process by which the State withdraws in Europe, under pressure from both the process of European integration (the creation of the single market) and, of course, the process of globalization-liberalization, which began some two decades ago. in this part, we deals with issues of intervention in general terms, canvassing some economic arguments for reducing the State suggesting that the real reason may be ideological and sometimes forced by globalization. We also investigate the future of public services in Europe, in terms of their missions. Are public service missions seriously, and necessarily, impaired by European economic integration? What is the present situation? What is the position of the Commission - in word and in deed? This part looks at the EU regime on competition, trying to answer various questions like how it has been interpreted and how it affects the privatization issue. We show last, with examples drawn from the experience of different countries of universal services in the banking sector, that it is rather difficult to maintain a proactive approach to public services within this competition framework. Here, we discuss the State provision of banking as a case study of the tension between public provision and competition.
Tax Morale and Fiscal Autonomy: Evidence from Germany
Authors: Torgler Benno , Werner Jan
Published: May 2024

Why people pay their taxes voluntarily is a key puzzle in the public finance literature. Some suggest that factors such as the level of tax morale, defined as the intrinsic motivation to pay taxes, affects compliance behaviour. While there have been numerous studies that have explored tax compliance or tax evasion, very few have explored the concept of tax morale in any detail. the basic intention of the empirical part is to analyse how fiscal autonomy affects tax morale in Germany. This also allows fill a gap in the tax compliance literature, which has rarely analysed the impact of fiscal autonomy on tax compliance or tax morale. Strong evidence has been found that a higher fiscal autonomy leads to a higher tax morale, controlling in a multivariate analysis for additional factors.
The Intangible Benefits of Sports Teams
Authors: Owen Jeffrey G.
Published: May 2024

This paper conducts a contingent valuation survey of professional sports teams in Michigan and Minnesota. Two findings indicate that the consumption value of teams is quite important in explaining why some citizens continue to support public stadium funding. First, interest in the team is important in determining the value of willingness-to-pay. Second, while aggregate willingness-to-pay values are somewhat less than typical stadium subsidies, they are large enough to be considered an important factor in public funding for stadiums. the findings do not imply that cities should spend tax money on stadiums, but they suggest that the focus on economic impact misses the true source of value teams have for cities as public goods.
Public Vs. Private Spending for Sports Facilities – the Case of Germany 2006
Authors: Rebeggiani Luca
Published: May 2024

After a long period of stagnation, many sport stadiums have been built or renovated across Germany during the last years. This boom was induced by the successful application for the FIFA Soccer World Championship 2006 and was commonly regarded as necessary, given the obsolete facilities of German soccer clubs. While in the past stadiums in Germany were wholly financed by public subsidies, current financial difficulties of the German government and especially of the municipalities, joint with changes of the legal form of German soccer clubs, make it necessary and possible to search for alternative financing forms. This paper reviews private and public financing models for sports facilities and provides a detailed analysis of the effective financing of the venues for the FIFA World Championship 2006.
The Effects of Technology on the Age Distribution of Health Spending: A Cross-Country Perspective
Authors: Sheiner Louise
Published: May 2024

The conventional method used to project a country's future health care expenditures is to assume that relative health spending by age remains constant. This method has been criticized as being too pessimistic, on the one hand, because of continued improvements in the health status of older people, and as too optimistic, on the other, because of the effects of technological innovations on increasing health spending on the elderly relative to the non-elderly. This paper uses cross-country data to shed light on this question. I find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the theoretical effects of technology on health spending are to decrease the concentration of health spending on the elderly. Empirically, I find that relative health spending by age has been quite stable over time. I also find that countries with the most technologically intensive health sectors spend relatively less on the oldest old compared to the younger old.
New Challenges for Defense, Security and the Public Finances
Authors: Braddon Derek
Published: May 2024

This paper provides an introductory background to the symposium on defense, security and the public finances. It outlines the recent dramatic transformation of both the global defense industry and the geo-political environment within which it has to operate. Within this, changing political, strategic and military strategies are reviewed and the principal factors driving change in the defense sector are explored. the paper reviews the consequences of the end of the Cold War and explores the impact of recent ethic conflict, the Iraq and Afghanistan developments and the terrorist threat. Additional forces driving change in defense are also considered; in particular, the so-called ‘revolution in military affairs’ and the widespread restructuring of the defense industrial base over the last decade and a half. Finally, budgetary response is discussed briefly before an overview of the papers contained in this symposium is presented.
Consolidating the Defense-Industrial Base in the Post-Cold War Era: Budgetary Priorities & Procurement Policies in the U.S. & Western Europe
Authors: Thornton David W.
Published: May 2024

This paper examines the U.S. and West European experiences with and approaches to the policy challenges of defense industry restructuring in the 1990s. the policies adopted by the Americans and West Europeans in their efforts to maintain their respective defense-industrial base (DIB) following the end of the Cold War provide instructive points of comparison that reveal both similarities and contrasts in approach with respect to the role of governments in managing and directing economic and industrial change. Attention is devoted to several related aspects: budgetary developments and trends, procurement policies, the pattern of industry mergers and acquisitions, policies of government with respect to promoting consolidation, and the prospects for future transatlantic cooperation in defense procurement.
Why Should Governments Encourage Improvements in Infrastructure? Indirect Network Externality of Transaction Efficiency
Authors: Ng Yew-Kwang , Ng Siang
Published: May 2024

Governments have been very active in engaging in and in encouraging the improvements in transaction efficiency, including the provision of legal, social, and economic infrastructure. While this may partly be explained by the public goods nature, the presence of indirect network externalities due to the economies of specialization may also be important. the improvement in transaction (including communication and transportation) efficiency may generate benefits in excess of the direct private benefits through the promotion of division of labour that leads to more economies of specialization and the availability of more goods in the market. This is shown in the Yang-Ng framework of inframarginal analysis.
Taxing Owner-Occupied Housing: Comparing the Netherlands to Other European Union Countries
Authors: van der Hoek M. Peter , Radloff Sarah E.
Published: May 2024

This paper compares owner-occupied housing tax regimes in the Netherlands and the other countries in the EU-15. the Netherlands appears to stand apart in two respects. First, in Luxembourg and the Netherlands owner-occupiers have to include an imputed rental income in their taxable income. Second, in the Netherlands, the tax-deductibility of mortgage interest payments is almost unrestricted.

The tax regime of owner-occupied homes increasingly erodes the personal income tax base in the Netherlands, so that higher tax rates are needed to collect a given amount of revenue. However, elimination or reduction of the mortgage interest deduction can only be realized gradually.

Due to a lack of data both within the various tax regimes and across time periods, a comprehensive multivariate time-series comparison among the various tax regimes in the EU-15 is not possible. Thus, the statistical analysis is limited to bivariate comparisons.
Symposium on China's Public Finances
Authors: Grewal Bhajan
Published: May 2024

China's public finances have played an important part in the country's economic performance. as the focus of development strategy changes from exports to domestic consumption and to the establishment of a harmonious society, China's public finances are now called upon to play a different, and even more important, role in economic and social development. the papers in this symposium address some of the issues arising from the new policy context. in addition to discussing the need for a change in China's development strategy, particular focus of the papers in this volume of the symposium is on the continuing need for further reforms in the taxation system and intergovernmental fiscal transfers.
Consumption versus Income Taxation: Three Moments in the Political Economy of Fiscal Choice
Authors: Winer Stanley L. , Warskett George , Hettich Walter
Published: May 2024

Most modern economies tax both consumption and labour income. While there is an extensive normative literature on the optimal mix of the two taxes, there is little examination of what determines the actual mix in a well specified political economy context. We use a multi-dimensional spatial voting framework to simulate endogenous political tax equilibria. the model accommodates complex interactions between many of the first three moments (mean, variance and skewness) of three distributions identified in the literature as crucial: the distribution of income, of preferences for public goods and the distribution of political influence. to simplify, we focus on a balanced and an asymmetric society and analyze how different combinations of distributional moments interact in the determination of tax equilibria. Interesting links emerge between the nature of the distribution of preferences for public expenditure, income inequality and the relative importance of consumption taxation. the analysis suggests that studies of single taxes have limited relevance for the explanation of the observed tax mix.
Are There Economies of Scale in Municipal Government Expenditures?
Authors: Holcombe Randall G. , Williams DeEdgra W.
Published: May 2024

One factor that is relevant to determining the optimal size of local government is whether there are economies of diseconomies of scale in municipal government expenditures. This paper examines the question by analyzing municipal government expenditures of 487 municipalities with populations greater than 50,000. At first glance it appears that municipal expenditures are characterized by diseconomies of scale, but because there is a close correlation between total population and population density, one must be careful to make sure that the effects attributed to total population are not in fact due to variations in population density. When cities are divided into groups by population density so that they are not compared with other cities with very different densities, the evidence for diseconomies of scale goes away. It appears that after variation in density is taken into account, municipal government expenditures are characterized by constant returns to scale. Thus, there is no reason to think that either consolidations or secessions at the local level would appreciably affect per capita government expenditures.
Optimal Budget Rules: Making Government Spending Sustainable through Present-Value Balance
Authors: Dothan Michael , Thompson Fred
Published: May 2024

This article uses simple and self-contained optimal control theory and martingale methods to find optimal government expenditure consistent with present value balance and, implicitly sustainable saving, borrowing, and tax levels as well, since long-term sustainable paths are, in principle, not different from optimal paths. Our approach identifies time-consistent budget rules, where most other efforts to do so have not, because it makes the reasonable assumption that the stochastic nature of revenues is more or less given, and ignores the relationship between the level and kind of taxes employed and revenue growth. Further allowing the government to invest in risky as well as risk-free financial assets, we derive explicit formulas for optimal expenditure and the parameters of its future stochastic evolution, expected surpluses and deficits and their dependence on model parameters, and the probability of sustained long-term growth and its dependence on the initial size of the reserve account.
“Constrained Flexibility” as a Tool to Facilitate Reform of the EU Budget
Authors: Buti Marco , Nava Mario
Published: May 2024

The Sapir report in 2004 famously dubbed the EU Budget a historical relic. In spite of calls from many quarters for a comprehensive budget reform, the Council negotiation was hampered by many institutional and political constraints and managed to deliver only limited change. However, the final agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2007/13 did introduce a potentially important novelty, namely a review clause in 2008/9. Such an occasion should be seized to introduce appropriate incentives and tools for revamping the EU budget with the aim of making it consistent with the Lisbon-oriented objectives of the EU. This paper argues for the respect of the Multiannual Financial Framework over the period covered rather than in every single year and per every single heading. This should be accomplished via an inter-temporal guarantee of the respect of the Multiannual Financial Framework and coupled with cost-benefit analysis of the additional spending carried out at the EU level. Such “constrained flexibility”, which can be introduced either under the current or the new Lisbon Treaty, should be supported by appropriate governance arrangements to ensure the respect of subsidiarity, allow an efficient running of the budget and enforce budgetary discipline.
Eu Budget Reform Options and the Common Pool Problem
Authors: Osterloh Steffen , Heinemann Friedrich , Mohl Philipp
Published: May 2024

There is a consensus in the literature that the expenditure structure of the EU budget is not in line with normative criteria based e.g. on the theory of fiscal federalism. While transfer policies have a large weight, policies of a European public good type are neglected. Our contribution explains this inefficient outcome within the framework of a political-economic two-country model adapted from Besley and Coate (2003). The model's modifications integrate crucial features of the EU setting such as income heterogeneity of countries, a GNI dependent revenue formula and the existence of transfer policies in the EU budget besides both local and European public goods. We show that the common pool problem in combination with a budget cap is at the heart of overspending on transfers and under-spending on European public goods. On the base of this model we assess different reform options related to the revenue side. We show that the effects of an EU tax depend crucially on the deviation of the specific tax base's redistributive effects from income proportionality. Furthermore, our results point to the advantages of a general but limited correction mechanism.
Fiscal Decentralization and the Quality of Public Services in Russian Regions
Authors: Freinkman Lev
Published: May 2024

The paper provides empirical analysis of the relationship between fiscal decentralization and the quality of public services in the Russian regions. The analysis suggests that fiscal decentralization has no significant effect on the key inputs into secondary education, such as schools, computers, or availability of preschooling, but has a significant positive effect on average examination results, controlling for the key observable inputs and regional government spending on education. Decentralization also has a positive impact on the quality of municipal utilities provision. Both effects can be attributed to strengthened fiscal incentives rather than to superior productive efficiency of municipal governments.
The Impact of Debt Management Policies on Borrowing Costs Incurred by U.S. State Governments
Authors: Levine Helisse
Published: May 2024

This study empirically examines the impact of debt management policies on borrowing costs incurred by U.S. state governments when issuing debt in the municipal bond market. Based on positive political theory and the benefit principle of taxation, it is proposed that states that adhere to best practice debt management policies transmit signals to the credit ratings, investment community and taxpayers that the government should meet its obligations in a timely manner, resulting in lower debt costs. As a result of a multi-block multivariate regression model the implication of adhering to debt policies aimed at promoting transparency results in a borrowing cost savings in terms of true interest cost (TIC) of close to $8,000 for every $1,000,000 of debt issued (-.769, p<.10). However a comprehensive debt policy is not a significant indicator of borrowing costs. These results suggest a product of a pull push process between the economic forces of the bond market on one hand and politics on the other, pulling the administrative function toward efficiency in the former and democratic values of responsiveness and transparency in the latter. The problem lies in policies that respond to the bond market but virtually exclude any other community interest in policy making. It is recommended that openness in government and allowing taxpayers to understand government services are essential goals in ensuring responsible citizen oversight and providing taxpayers the opportunity to be less likely to propose restrictive initiatives or force dramatic political or management changes through the electoral process or bond referenda.
Symposium on China Studies
Authors: Bartle John R. , Wu Yonghong , Zhao Zhirong Jerry
Published: May 2024

To meet the increasing scholarly interest in China, this symposium provides a forum for scholars in public budgeting and finance to exchange research on China-related issues. There have been new initiatives to reform China's public fiscal system in the past two decades. The papers in this symposium examine advances and associated issues in fiscal decentralization, local budgeting, and urban infrastructure financing. The papers not only analyze the existing issues, but also make recommendations on how to develop an accountable local budgeting system, how to finance sustainable urban infrastructure, and how to pursue a more balanced approach to fiscal decentralization in contemporary China.
Tax Policy Design and the Role of A Tax-Free Threshold
Authors: Creedy John , Hérault Nicolas , Kalb Guyonne
Published: May 2024

This paper examines the role of the tax-free threshold in a tax and transfer system consisting of a range of taxes and income support payments. The simultaneous payment of tax and receipt of income support, seen by some commentators as a problem, is examined. The analysis shows that with an income support system, a tax-free range is not required to achieve redistribution. With the aim of improving labor supply incentives while maintaining approximate revenue and distribution neutrality, a policy change involving the elimination of the tax-free threshold in Australia is examined using a behavioral microsimulation model which accounts to a large extent for population heterogeneity. The results demonstrate that the tax-free threshold can be eliminated under these conditions, but labor supply incentives cannot simultaneously be improved. This means that the status quo could be more or less maintained while eliminating the tax-free threshold.
Book Review: Book Review of Fiscal Sociology and the Theory of Public Finance: An Exploratory Essay
Authors: Slusher Thomas
Published: May 2024

Public finance theory has historically treated government as an omniscient actor working outside of the market. The state is assumed to be able to identify problems and take the necessary action to fix them. In this book, Wagner redefines the foundational assumptions of public finance. Instead of an omniscient actor, state, like markets, is an emergent order where people interact. While this book leaves certain applications underdeveloped, it addresses important implications of a social-theoretic approach to public finance. This book provides a strong critique to welfare economics, and lays the groundwork for future scholars to redefine how we think about public finance.
Understanding Issues Related to Polycentric Governance in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Authors: Pethe Abhay , Tandel Vaidehi , Gandhi Sahil
Published: May 2024

Metropolitan government in India involves public organizations, networked vertically and horizontally, operating at different scales and having diverse – often overlapping – functional scopes. The interactions among these public organizations and their agents along with various private organizations, interest groups and civil society occurring within the environment of a federal set-up and fractured polity, lend a polycentric character to metropolitan governance. This paper investigates implications of the underlying institutions for the governance of metropolitan regions in India. For this, the paper analyzes polycentric governance in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) through three cases that portray interactions among various public organizations and actors. The paper finds that the governance in MMR is only ‘ostensibly’ polycentric. This can be attributed to the institutional framework that causes destructive conflicts, absence of efficiency enhancing competition, rent seeking, political information failure, concentration of power with certain key positions, and agency problems. Enabling governance in Indian metropolitan regions to be ‘truly’ polycentric in nature would therefore require a careful deliberation and modification of the institutional framework.
Democracy and the Theory of Public Finance: A Polycentric, Invisible-Hand Framework
Authors: Wagner Richard E.
Published: May 2024

Most public finance theorizing treats its material of public finance as reflecting some ruler's optimizing choices. Within democratic regimes this ruler is typically a median vote. While this approach has tractability on its side, it achieves that tractability by presenting caricatures of democratic fiscal processes by reducing democratic complexity to monocentric simplicity. In contrast, this paper explores a polycentric or invisible hand framework for fiscal theorizing, which recognizes that no single mind is even capable of apprehending in detail the substantive reality of modern fiscal processes. What results is recognition that fiscal processes resemble market processes in that they operate through knowledge that is distributed among participants and where fiscal outcomes are products of spontaneous ordering that emerges through competitive interaction among political enterprises within a quasi-market process of open competition.
Fiscal Sustainability in India at State Level
Authors: Makin Anthony J. , Arora Rashmi
Published: May 2024

The consolidated measures of budget deficits and public debt levels for India's central and state governments are well above the average of other emerging economies. In contrast to previous studies of India's budgetary position, which focus on the central government's budget, this paper examines fiscal sustainability at the level of India's states, which differ widely in terms of their level of economic development. After comparing fiscal performance in the states, key formulae for examining public debt sustainability at the sub-national level in India are derived. These formulae are then applied, firstly to identify states where public debt has stabilized as a percent of Gross State Domestic Product, and secondly to gauge the size of the primary budget balances needed to achieve a 25% public debt to GSDP ratio within three, five and ten year horizons.
Symposium on Amalgamation and Financial Sustainability in Local Government: Part 1
Authors: Dollery Brian , Grant Bligh
Published: May 2024

Local government amalgamation, frequently also referred to as council consolidation and municipal mergers, whereby small local authorities are subsumed into larger entities, has often been used as a means of improving the operation of municipalities and enhancing their financial viability. However, empirical evidence on the impact of mergers is mixed. This Symposium focuses on the effects of amalgamation on the financial sustainability of local government.
Symposium on Developing A Property Tax Expenditure Budget
Authors: Bell Michael E. , Brunori David
Published: May 2024

The property tax is the most important source of local revenues. The base of the tax is being eroded by state and local policies intended to reduce property taxes for certain types of property or property owners. The resulting mosaic of property tax relief programs undermines the productivity, efficiency and fairness of the property tax. This symposium addresses more directly the concept of tax expenditure budgets for property taxes and their potential role in informing the debate on various property tax policies that cost local governments significant own-source revenues.
A Note on the Distributional Consequences of Use Value Assessments
Authors: Coogan Daniel , Bell Michael , Brunori David
Published: May 2024

This paper explores issues associated with developing tax expenditure estimates for property tax programs bestowing preferential treatment on some taxpayers. Specifically, the paper focuses on estimating foregone revenues for a use value assessment program in Wayne County, Ohio. The case study illustrates the impact of use value assessments which cause the county to forego significant property tax revenues, to undermine the uniformity of the property tax, and to distort the distribution of property tax liabilities across both agricultural and other property types.