In this article, European public finances are analyzed by focusing on the EU budget and the influence of the EU on member states’ taxes and spending. Starting from the economic theory of federalism, the chapter surveys the development of EU revenue, spending and off-budget activities, discusses the redistributive impact of the EU budget on member states, budgetary decision-making procedures and...

Two main results in traditional tax theory states the following. First, general taxes minimize the welfare loss from changed relative prices. Second, because the total public budget tends to exceed the optimal size, a leader (here named ‘troop leader’) is needed in the budget process to prevent over-taxation. Nevertheless, differentiated taxes initiated by individual ministries generate a still...

Article history: Received 4 March 2014 Received in revised form 12 August 2014 Accepted 12 August 2014 Available online 23 August 2014 Budget deficit has been a commonfiscal pressure facing Chinese cities since the 1994fiscal reform. Meanwhile, land lease sales have become a significant off-budgetary revenue to local governments since 2003. This paper investigateswhetherfinancing budget deficit...

In search advertising, we observe different patterns of branded keyword purchase behavior by the brand owner and its competitor. In particular, under a specific branded keyword, we may observe in the sponsored link, only the brand owner, only the competitor, both, or neither. In this paper, we aim to understand their strategies in a competitive environment. We first derive conditions for each p...

Two theoretical frameworks have been widely used to understand the response of monsoons to local and remote forcings: the vertically integrated atmospheric energy budget and convective quasi-equilibrium (CQE). Existing forms of these frameworks neglect some of the complexities of monsoons, such as the shallow meridional circulations that advect dry air from adjacent deserts into the middle and ...

In this paper we consider healthcare policy issues for trading off resources in testing, prevention and cure of two-stage contagious diseases. An individual that has contracted the two-stage contagious disease will initially show no symptoms of the disease but is capable of spreading it. If the initial stages are not detected which could lead to complications eventually, then symptoms start app...

116 JFQ / Spring 1997 If confronted with an enemy sniper in a darkened room would you want more ammunition, a larger caliber weapon, or night vision goggles? Those who make decisions on how to man and equip our forces depend on models that cannot answer this question. Built during the Cold War to respond to concerns over incremental changes in force structure and weaponry, these models are unab...