Nonpoint Pollution Control: Inducing First-best Outcomes through the Use of Threats

In this paper we develop a simple economic model to analyze the use of a policy that combines a voluntary approach to controlling nonpoint-source pollution with a background threat of an ambient tax if the voluntary approach is unsuccessful in meeting a pre-specified environmental goal. We first consider the case where the policy is applied to a single farmer, and then extend the analysis to the case where the policy is applied to a group of farmers. We show that in either case such a policy can induce cost-minimizing abatement without the need for farm-specific information. In this sense, the combined policy approach is not only more effective in protecting environmental quality than a pure voluntary approach (which does not ensure that water quality goals are met) but also less costly than a pure ambient tax approach (since it entails lower information costs). However, when the policy is applied to a group of farmers, we show that there is a potential tradeoff in the design of the policy. In this context, lowering the cutoff level of pollution used for determining total tax payments increases the likely effectiveness of the combined approach but also increases the potential for free riding. By setting the cutoff level equal to the target level of pollution, the regulator can eliminate free riding and ensure that cost-minimizing abatement is the unique Nash equilibrium under which the target is met voluntarily. However, this cutoff level also ensures that zero voluntary abatement is a Nash equilibrium. In addition, with this cutoff level the equilibrium under which the target is met voluntarily will not strictly dominate the equilibrium under which it is not. We show that all results still hold if the background threat instead takes the form of reducing government subsidies if a pre-specified environmental goal is not met.

Tax Motivated Takings

Tax motivated takings are takings by a local government aimed purely at increasing its tax base. Such an action was justified by the Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo v. New London, which allowed the use of eminent domain for a private redevelopment project on the grounds that the project promised spillover public benefits in the form of jobs and taxes. This paper argues that tax motivated takings can lead to inefficient transfers of land for the simple reason that assessed values understate owners' true values. We therefore propose a reassessment scheme that greatly reduces the risk of this sort of inefficiency.

Tax Collection in History

Methods of tax collection employed by modern governments seem dull when compared to the rich variety observed in history. Whereas most governments today typically use salaried agents to collect taxes, various other types of contractual relationships have been observed in history, including sharing arrangements which divide the tax revenue between the government and collectors at fixed proportions, negotiated payment schemes based on the tax base, and sale of the revenue to a collector in exchange for a lump-sum payment determined at auction. We propose an economic theory of tax collection that can coherently explain the temporal and spatial variation in contractual forms. We begin by offering a simple classification of tax collection schemes observed in history. We then develop a general economic model of tax collection that specifies the cost and benefits of alternative schemes and identifies the conditions under which a government would choose one contractual form over another in maximizing the net revenue. Finally, we use the conclusions of the model to explain some of the well-known patterns of tax collection observed in history and how choices varied over time and space.

The coal and wine dues : the history of the London coal tax, and the arguments for and against its renewal /

Mode of access: Internet.

HUD guarantee of tax-exempt hospital financing : hearing before the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, May 17, 1979.

"Serial no. 96-21."

Regulations 111 relating to the income tax under the Internal revenue code, with amendments to July 31, 1951, including T. D. 5841.

Mode of access: Internet.

Federal income tax treatment of capital gains and losses; a Treasury tax study.

Mode of access: Internet.

Regulations 111 relating to the income tax under the Internal revenue code (applicable only to years beginning after December 31, 1941). Supplement.

At head of title: U.S. Treasury Dept. Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Actual values for estate and gift tax. : Supplementing tables I and II and the related examples of the estate and gift tax regulations.

Mode of access: Internet.

Summary on H.R. 9827 : An act to provide revenue by imposing a corporate excess profits tax.

Mode of access: Internet.

Rules of practice before the United States Processing Tax Board of Review.

At head of title: United States Treasury Department.

Treasury decisions nos. 5680 to 5815, issued after December 1, 1948 and before December 1, 1950 : amending Income tax regulations 111 issued under the Internal revenue code for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1941 : to be used in conjunction with preceding pamphlets and Supplement to Regulations 111.

Mode of access: Internet.

Revenue act of 1932--Supplement no.2. Rubber import tax. : Hearings before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, seventy-second Congress, first session on H.R. 10236 an act to provide revenue, equalize taxation and for other purposes, May 9,10, and 11, 1932.

Mode of access: Internet.

Revenue act of 1932--Supplement no. 3. Income tax exemption of mutual insurance companies. : Hearings before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, seventy-second Congress, first session on H.R. 10236 an act to provide revenue, equalize taxation and for other purposes, May 20, 1932.

Mode of access: Internet.

Economic recovery tax act : selected provisions of interest to women.

Mode of access: Internet.