Taxing or subsidizing Factors' rents in a simple endogenous growth model with public capital

This paper tackles the fundamental issue in public finance of wether taxing or subsidizing factor rents. In a one sector endogenous growth model with private and public capital, similar to that in Barro (1990),we find that raising taxes on factors’ income as part of an optimal fiscal policy is a more pervasive result than it seems. The interaction of technological and fiscal externalities is central for this result. For instance, high enough levels of wasteful expenditures to output ratio could make positive income taxes enhance welfare. This ratio would need to be smaller, the lower the spillover externality and/or the larger the elasticities of private and public capital in the private production function.Endogenous growth, Factors’ rents subsidy, Distorting taxes, Public capital.

Growth and welfare: Distorting versus non-distorting taxes

In an infinitely-lived framework, taxing capital income may be growth and welfare enhancing when it allows for correcting distorting externalities in the competitive equilibrium allocation. This is the case when public capital is subject to congestion by private capital or total income [Fisher and Turnovsky (1998)] or when government expenditure exerts an external e.ect on physical capital [Corsetti and Roubini (1996)]. However, none of these features appear in simple one-sector endogenous growth models with public capital. Alternatively, we consider certain realistic fiscal policy constraints in a simple one-sector growth model with productive and unproductive public expenditures, to show that raising revenues through factor income taxes may be preferred to using lump-sum taxes.Endogenous growth, distorting taxes, public investment.

Foaming properties of protein/pectin electrostatic complexes and foam structure at the nanoscale

The foaming properties, foaming capacity and foam stability, of soluble complexes of pectin and a globular protein, napin, have been investigated with a "Foamscan" apparatus. Complementary, we also used SANS with a recent method consisting in an analogy between the SANS by foams and the neutron reflectivity of films to measure in situ film thickness of foams. The effect of ionic strength, of protein concentration and of charge density of the pectin has been analysed. Whereas the foam stability is improved for samples containing soluble complexes, no effect has been noticed on the foam film thickness, which is almost around 315 {\AA} whatever the samples. These results let us specify the role of each specie in the mixture: free proteins contribute to the foaming capacity, provided the initial free protein content in the bulk is sufficient to allow the foam formation, and soluble complexes slow down the drainage by their presence in the Plateau borders, which finally results in the stabilisation of foams

Growth and welfare : distorting or non-distorting taxes

Se demuestra que recaudar impuestos sobre la renta puede resultar una mejor alternativa que financiar el gasto público con impuestos de suma fija, en un modelo de crecimiento endógeno de un sector con gasto público productivo e improductivo y bajo ciertas restricciones fiscales realistas. Abstract In an infinitely-lived framework, taxing capital income may be growth and welfare enhancing when it allows for correcting distorting externalities in the competitive equilibrium allocation. This is the case when public capital is subject to congestion by private capital or total income [Fisher and Turnovsky (1998)] or when government expenditure exerts an external effect on physical capital [Corsetti and Roubini (1996)]. However, none of these features appear in simple one-sector endogenous growth models with public capital. Alternatively, we consider certain realistic fiscal policy constraints in a simple one-sector growth model with productive and unproductive public expenditures, to show that raising revenues through factor income taxes may be preferred to using lump-sum taxes

Liquidity and hedging effectiveness under futures mispricing: International evidence

We analyze the hedging effectiveness of positions that replicate stock indexes using corresponding futures contracts through the application of a dynamic, stochastic hedging strategy proposed by Lafuente, J. A. and Novales, A. (2003). Conclusive gains do not emerge in any of the markets analyzed over the period considered, relative to the use of a constant unit hedge ratio. These findings are consistent with the trend observed in the IBEX 35 futures market study of Lafuente, J. A. and Novales, A. (2003). Our empirical evidence suggests that, contrary to what happens in less liquid markets, the discrepancy between theoretical and quoted prices in index futures contracts in fully developed markets does not represent a noise factor that can be successfully exploited for hedging