Should We Impose Emissions Taxes that Firms Evade?

Should Continued Family Firms Face Lower Taxes Than Other Estates?∗

Taxes on inheritances may induce heirs to discontinue family firms. Because firm dissolution incurs transaction costs, a preferential tax treatment of transferred family businesses seems to be desirable from a macroeconomic viewpoint. The support of dynastic succession, however, entails also a cost on the economy if firm continuation by less able heirs prevents entry into entrepreneurship. Here...

A Responsibility That We Should Not Shirk

Most epidemiological studies done in different parts of India have shown the prevalence of Mental Retardation (MR) in the general population to vary from 3 to 6 per thousand (Verghese et aL 1973; Nandi et al, 1980). The psychiatrists' attitude towards MR ranges from total indifference to over involvement and the attempt to help the mentally retarded individuals varies from therapeutic nihilism ...

Optimal Enforcement Policy and Firms’ Emissions and Compliance with Environmental Taxes∗

In a market where firms with different characteristics decide upon both the level of emissions and their reports, we study the optimal audit policy for an enforcement agency whose objective is to minimize the level of emissions. We show that it is optimal to devote the resources primarily to the easiest-to-monitor firms and to those firms that value pollution the less. Moreover, unless the budg...

Should Environmental Taxes Be Precautionary?

How Should Taxes Be Set?

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis or the Federal Reserve System.