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Robin Boadway

Bio: Robin Boadway is an academic researcher from Queen's University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Income tax & Fiscal federalism. The author has an hindex of 48, co-authored 300 publications receiving 8883 citations. Previous affiliations of Robin Boadway include Queen's University Belfast & Hitotsubashi University.


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TL;DR: Boadway and Flatters as discussed by the authors investigated the rationale for a system of equalization transfers in a federal system of government and synthesized the existing sources of inefficiency of resource allocation in economies with more than one level of government.
Abstract: This paper investigates the rationale for a system of equalization transfers in a federal system of government. The existing sources of inefficiency of resource allocation in economies with more than one level of government are synthesized in the framework of a simple decentralized multiprovince model with mobile factors of production. The sources of inefficiency arise, first because migrants respond at the margin to incorrect signals, owing to the phenomena of rent sharing and fiscal exterality, and second because of global rather than local inefficiencies. The model is then extended to consider the role of the federal government in providing intergovernmental transfers in the face of such inefficiencies. In addition to synthesizing the sources of inefficiency in federal models, the equity arguments for equalization are briefly recounted. Efficacite et paiements de perequation dans un systeme federal de gouvernement: synthese et extensions de certains resultats recents. Ce memoire examine la logique qui soustend un systeme de paiements de perequation dans un systeme fdderal de gouverement. Les auteurs utilisent un modele simple d'un systeme multi-provincial decentralise avec des facteurs de production mobiles pour definir les sources d'inefficacite dans l'allocation des ressources dans les dconomies qui possedent plus d'un niveau de gouvernement. Ces inefficacites proviennent de ce que, d'abord, ceux qui se deplacent le font en reponse, a la marge, a des signaux incorrects engendres par le partage de la rente sur la base de la residence et par les phenomenes d'exteralites fiscales; elles sont aussi le resultat d'inefficacites globales plutot que locales. Dans le cadre de ce modele, les auteurs analysent le role du gouvernement federal effectuant des transferts inter-gouverementaux pour corriger ces inefficacites. En plus de presenter une synthese des sources d'inefficacite dans les regimes federaux, les auteurs font un bref rappel en passant a l'ensemble des arguments fondes sur l'equite qu'on utilise pour rationaliser les paiements de perequation. This paper is a linear combination of two papers presented at the May 1982 meetings of the Canadian Economics Association in Halifax entitled 'The case for equalization payments' (by the authors) and 'Recent developments in the theory of regional economic policy in Canada' (by Boadway). The authors are grateful for comments by the discussants Jim Johnson and Baxter MacDonald and by Jack Mintz, Brian Scarfe, Gerard Belanger, David Sewell, Tom Courchene, and the referees. We are especially heavily indebted to Dan Usher for many stimulating comments and suggestions while the work was in progress. Some of the above persons will undoubtedly disagree with the emphasis we have chosen to put on various aspects of the analysis for policy purposes. Support for some of this work has been provided by the Economic Council of Canada and is gratefully acknowledged. Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue Canadienne d'Economique, XV, no. 4 November / novembre 1982. Printed in Canada / Imprimd au Canada. 0008-4085 / 82 / 0000-0613 $01.50 ? 1982 Canadian Economics Association This content downloaded from 207.46.13.127 on Wed, 12 Oct 2016 04:27:47 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 614 / Robin Boadway and Frank Flatters

450 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a simple and general means of levying a business tax that is neutral in the sense that it does not affect the firm's decisions at the margin is discussed.

314 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, tax-setting functions for the federal government, Ontario, Quebec, and an aggregate of the remaining eight provinces were estimated using a simple model of interdependent tax choices.
Abstract: Both federal and provincial governments in Canada levy corporate taxes on busi- nesses in their jurisdictions, which potentially gives rise to horizontal and vertical tax exter- nalities within the federation. Using a simple model of interdependent tax choices, we estimate tax-setting functions for the federal government, Ontario, Quebec, and an aggregate of the remaining eight provinces. We find evidence of significant vertical and horizontal tax inter- actions. Provincial tax rates respond negatively to the federal tax rate, while at least some provinces increase their tax rates in response to increases in the tax rates of other provinces.

280 citations

Book
01 Jan 1979

278 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a modified version of the Samuelson Rule for the provision of public goods when the government deploys an optimal nonlinear income tax has been derived using the self-selection approach to tax analysis.
Abstract: Using the self-selection approach to tax analysis, this paper derives a modified Samuelson Rule for the provision of public goods when the government deploys an optimal nonlinear income tax. This approach gives a straightforward interpretation of the central result in this area, generalises it, and provides a simple characterisation of optimal policy in a wide range of circumstances. The analysis also emphasises and clarifies the significance of the choice of numeraire for the optimality of "decentralising" public spending decisions. It is well-known that the famous Samuelson Rule for the provision of public goods may not be applicable when the tax revenues used to finance the public goods come from distorting taxes. The principle was recognized as long ago as Pigou (1947), long before the Samuelson Rule was devised. Pigou saw that in addition to the resource cost involved in transferring funds from the private to the public sector there was a deadweight loss involved. From this insight, he suggested that the criterion for providing public goods should be more stringent than the Samuelson Rule would later suggest. In particular, one might expect that the inclusion of the deadweight loss of taxes as part of the cost of providing a public good would lead to a reduction in its optimal provision relative to a situation in which lump-sum taxes were available. The problem was investigated more systematically by Atkinson and Stern (1974), who considered the case in which a public good is financed by a set of optimal commodity taxes. All individuals were assumed to be identical, so efficiency alone dictated the objective. They found that no prima facie case could be made for the Pigou position that the use of distortionary taxes called for a reduction in the supply of the public good. Their analysis clearly showed that there were two influences at work when the financing of a public good was by distorting taxes. On the one hand,

236 citations


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TL;DR: A theme of the text is the use of artificial regressions for estimation, reference, and specification testing of nonlinear models, including diagnostic tests for parameter constancy, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and other types of mis-specification.
Abstract: Offering a unifying theoretical perspective not readily available in any other text, this innovative guide to econometrics uses simple geometrical arguments to develop students' intuitive understanding of basic and advanced topics, emphasizing throughout the practical applications of modern theory and nonlinear techniques of estimation. One theme of the text is the use of artificial regressions for estimation, reference, and specification testing of nonlinear models, including diagnostic tests for parameter constancy, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and other types of mis-specification. Explaining how estimates can be obtained and tests can be carried out, the authors go beyond a mere algebraic description to one that can be easily translated into the commands of a standard econometric software package. Covering an unprecedented range of problems with a consistent emphasis on those that arise in applied work, this accessible and coherent guide to the most vital topics in econometrics today is indispensable for advanced students of econometrics and students of statistics interested in regression and related topics. It will also suit practising econometricians who want to update their skills. Flexibly designed to accommodate a variety of course levels, it offers both complete coverage of the basic material and separate chapters on areas of specialized interest.

4,284 citations

01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: This article investigated whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997) with negative results.
Abstract: We investigate whether income inequality affects subsequent growth in a cross-country sample for 1965-90, using the models of Barro (1997), Bleaney and Nishiyama (2002) and Sachs and Warner (1997), with negative results. We then investigate the evolution of income inequality over the same period and its correlation with growth. The dominating feature is inequality convergence across countries. This convergence has been significantly faster amongst developed countries. Growth does not appear to influence the evolution of inequality over time. Outline

3,770 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the United Kingdom, both Scot- land and Wales have opted under the Blair government for their own regional parliaments and in Italy the movement toward decentralization has gone so far as to encompass a serious proposal for the separation of the nation into two in-dependent countries as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: vogue. Both in the industrialized and in the developing world, nations are turning to devolution to improve the per- formance of their public sectors. In the United States, the central government has turned back significant portions of federal authority to the states for a wide range of major programs, including wel- fare, Medicaid, legal services, housing, and job training. The hope is that state and local governments, being closer to the people, will be more responsive to the particular preferences of their con- stituencies and will be able to find new and better ways to provide these ser- vices. In the United Kingdom, both Scot- land and Wales have opted under the Blair government for their own regional parliaments. And in Italy the movement toward decentralization has gone so far as to encompass a serious proposal for the separation of the nation into two in- dependent countries. In the developing world, we likewise see widespread inter- est in fiscal decentralization with the ob- jective of breaking the grip of central planning that, in the view of many, has failed to bring these nations onto a path of self-sustaining growth. But the proper goal of restructuring the public sector cannot simply be de- centralization. The public sector in nearly all countries consists of several different levels. The basic issue is one of aligning responsibilities and fiscal in- struments with the proper levels of gov- ernment. As Alexis de Toqueville ob- served more than a centuty ago, "The federal system was created with the in- tention of combining the different ad- vantages which result from the magni- tude and the littleness of nations" (1980, v. I, p. 163). But to realize these "dif- ferent advantages," we need to under- stand which functions and instruments are best centralized and which are best placed in the sphere of decentralized levels of government. This is the sub- ject matter of fiscal federalism. As a subfield of public finance, fiscal feder- alism addresses the vertical structure of the public sector. It explores, both in normative and positive terms, the roles of the different levels of government and the ways in which they relate to one another through such instruments as intergovernmental grants.2

3,054 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
G. W. Smith1

1,991 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The tax competition literature as mentioned in this paper argues that independent governments engage in wasteful competition for scarce capital through reductions in tax rates and public expendi- ture levels, and identifies efficiency enhancing roles for competition among governments.
Abstract: A central message of the tax competition literature is that independent governments engage in wasteful competition for scarce capital through reductions in tax rates and public expendi- ture levels. This paper discusses many of the contributions to this literature, ranging from early demonstrations of wasteful tax com- petition to more recent contributions that identify efficiency- enhancing roles for competition among governments. Such roles involve considerations not present in earlier models, including im- perfectly-competitive market structures, government commitment problems, and political economy considerations.

1,735 citations