The OASI eligibility provisions include a retirement test (or earnings test), and in 1979 aged beneficiaries who are under age 72 give up $1 in current benefits for each $2 of annual earnings above $4,500. If the retirement test were eliminated, total OASI payouts would increase because aged workers would no longer forfeit benefits. Aged workers also might increase earnings or delay retirement ...

The impact of pollution and abatement policy within a stochastic endogenous growth model is analyzed. Environmental care is provided by the government and financed through income taxation and government bonds. Due to environmental preferences and partial perception of the individual’s impact on pollution, government debt influences equilibrium growth. Hence, there is an additional growth effect...

This paper examines the economics of for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals through the prism of capital acquisitions. The exercise suggests that of two hospitals that are equally efficient in producing health care, the for-profit hospital would have to charge higher prices than the not-for-profit hospital would, to break even on capital acquisitions. The reasons for this divergence are (1) th...

A well-crafted retail sales tax on all goods and services could replace all 36 other state-level taxes in Kansas— including the personal and corporate income taxes. The tax rate could be eight percent (8%) or less, after the state government makes budget adjustments related to the recent recession-driven revenue shortfalls. Such a bold move holds the promise of making Kansas one of the most gro...

Literature in tax avoidance indicates that the proceeds of tax avoidance can be invested on production affairs, which in turn enhance the future expected cash flow, thereby reducing the cost of equity. Based on this reasoning, the present study aims to examine whether tax avoidance is associated with the cost of equity with emphasis on the moderating effect of outside monitoring. To calculate t...

Historically, the Islamic state collected zakat (similar to the tithe of other regions) as national income. In Indonesia, the private sector can raise zakat funds more effectively than the government. In 2010, zakat became tax-deductible income. This paper tries to analyze some factors that affect preference for zakat as a tax deduction in Indonesia. The effectiveness of the regulation is also ...

When product markets are monopolistic, an income redistributive policy affects social welfare not only through changes in disposable income but also through changes in product prices. In the optimal income tax formula, we then obtain a Pigouvian term correcting for this price externality. We provide sufficient conditions when the Pigouvian term is progressive among top earners. Moreover, if the...

The Federal Australian Government has used the results of computer modelling by ABARE, which predict supposedly major economic costs from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to justify its international stance arguing for the right for Australia to continue increasing emissions. Attempts to challenge this modelling have been hampered by the lack of detail given over the assumptions within the mo...