Let H ∈ Cn×n be an n × n unitary upper Hessenberg matrix whose subdiagonal elements are all positive. Partition H as H = H11 H12 H21 H22 , (0.1) where H11 is its k×k leading principal submatrix; H22 is the complementary matrix of H11. In this paper, H is constructed uniquely when its eigenvalues and the eigenvalues of b H11 and b H22 are known. Here b H11 and b H22 are rank-one modifications of...

In a second best environment, the optimal policy choice sometimes follows first best rules, as described in a number of scattered works. This paper presents a formal general argument which allows to unify much of the literature. It lays down the information structure and separability assumptions under which the results hold in a variety of setups, with extensions to preference heterogeneity and...

Tax evasion is modeled as a risky activity and integrated into a standard problem of optimal tax design. It is shown that there is a trade off between reducing tax evasion and reducing tax distortion. Thus it is efficient to supplement a broad-based wage tax by a tax on specific consumption if the former is evaded and the latter not. The optimal tax structure can be characterized by an explicit...

Benhabib and Rustichini [Optimal taxes without commitment, J. Econ. Theory 77 (1997) 231–259] study the properties of optimal capital taxes in economies without commitment and no government debt. They find that capital taxes may be different from zero at steady state. This note shows that, once governments have the possibility of issuing debt and smoothing taxes over time, optimal steady state ...

A government designs transfers to agents in the absence of information on their preferences. The second-best allocation is equal sharing among citizens when the awards are deterministic. We provide a necessary and su cient condition under which lotteries improve upon the egalitarian outcome. The condition requires that the citizens with large social weights have low risk aversion, and that the ...

This article analyzes concerns about market power and inequality in a model with multiple sectors, heterogeneous abilities, endogenous labor supply, nonlinear income taxation. Proportional markups no profit dissipation have effect on the economy, policy that reduces nonproportional markup raises (lowers) welfare when it is higher (lower) than weighted average of other markups. With proportional...

This paper demonstrates that intermediate goods should not be taxed even in the presence of dividend payments to households, thus clarifying previous results. We also …nd that optimal government policy in a second best world may include stockpiles of output — private supply exceeds private demand, and the government purchases the surplus. This may provide a possible explanation for some agricul...

We argue that compensating losers is more difficult for immigration than for trade and capital movements. While a tax-cum-subsidy mechanism allows the government to turn the gains from trade into a Pareto improvement, the same is not true for the so-called immigration surplus, if the redistributive mechanism is not allowed to discriminate against migrants. We discuss policy conclusions to be dr...

This paper considers an optimal income tax cum higher education policy. It shows that in the presence of an optimal income tax system higher education should be taxed rather than subsidized. Furthermore, income taxes should become less progressive when an optimal higher education policy is introduced. JEL Classification: H21, I22. Berthold U. Wigger Department of Economics University of Mannhei...