Are laws made by voters or industry? Here, we address this question in the context of copyright levies. Many Western countries allow private copying subject to a compulsory copyright levy. Applying political economy analysis, we show that (i) content producers always prefer a copyright levy to no levy; and (ii) if ethical costs are high, the median voter will prefer a copyright levy, while the ...

This paper estimates the risks of financial distress in UK universities, and uses these estimates to examine the basis of the annual levies paid to the UK’s Pension Protection Fund by the Universities Superannuation Scheme, a multi-employer scheme covering 391 universities and related institutions. The paper compares the payments between the two alternative participating arrangements for multi-...

This paper argues that in view of the resource crunch confronting many developing countries and the fall in overseas development aid flows to them, new sources of development finance need to be found. We consider international taxes, fees and levies that could considerably augment aid flows to developing countries and some of which may have coincident beneficial effects. Estimates of the revenu...

FOREWORD Status of the report and investigative procedures i i A matter of concern ii Acknowledgements iii CHAPTER 1 SURVEY OF THE WORK OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Interim report of the Subcommittee 1 1.3 Media statement no. 15 2 1.4 An overview of submissions received by the Subcommittee The tax authority Definition of the tax base The tax rate Methods of valuation of rural land...

Indirect taxes on transportation activities that pollute can correct externalities and close the gaps between private and social costs. However, policy makers often find such Pigou taxes difficult to implement because of political resistance due to possibly adverse affects on equity. For this reason it is important to assess the distributional aspects of environmental levies. This article estim...

We provide a new perspective on the impact of unauthorized copying and copy levies on artistic creation. Our analysis emphasizes three important aspects of artistic markets: the predominance of superstars, the dynamics of talent sorting, and the importance of promotion expenditures. In the short run, piracy reduces superstars’ earnings and market share, and increases the number of niche and you...