This paper utilizes a novel database collected by the authors to document features of the progressivity of personal income tax systems across 209 countries for the years 1980-2009. We measure progressivity in several ways. First, we associate it with the increase in effective average (marginal) tax rates between a wage of zero and ten times the average wage in a country. Second, we consider the...

The issue of whether the public sector enhances or retards long-run economic growth has been debated passionately in recent years. We use meta-analysis to shed light on the issue. A sample of 93 published studies, yielding 123 meta-observations, is used to examine the robustness of the evidence regarding the impact of fiscal policy on growth. Five fiscal policy areas are considered: general gov...

One feature of the European patent system that is heavily criticized nowadays is related to its complex fragmentation and the induced cost burden for applicants. Once a patent is granted by the EPO, the assignee must validate (and often translate) it and pay the renewal fees to keep it in force in each country in which the applicant seeks protection. The objective of this paper is to assess to ...

This study investigates the relationship between globalization and income inequality by developing a new globalization index based on economic growth. In addition two other indices of globalization, non-parametric Kearney and parametric principal component analysis are used as benchmarks to compare the results. The proposed new index is decomposed into four sub components. The index is also est...

The work of Gwartney, Holcombe and Lawson (GHL, 1998) is cited in New Zealand debate to demonstrate that a larger government share of GDP is detrimental for economic growth. Their work is reassessed here. We find a number of omissions in their analysis lead to a considerable over-statement of the effect of government size on growth. More important for growth, according to other recent work, are...

BACKGROUND Many developed countries are reforming healthcare payment systems in order to limit costs and improve clinical outcomes. Knowledge on how different groups of professional stakeholders trade off the merits and downsides of healthcare payment systems is limited. METHODS Using a discrete choice experiment we asked a sample of physicians, policy makers, healthcare executives and resear...

This paper is part of a collaborative research project entitled The Role of Law and Legal Institutions in Asian Economic Development (1960-95) which was sponsored by the Asian Development Bank. The study included six Asian economies: People's Republic of China (PRC), India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan,China. Oxford University Press is publishing the comparative report. This es...