Essays in Public Economics.

This dissertation comprises three research papers, each of which addresses a question in public economics. Chapter 1 investigates the response of taxpayers to tax incentives in Ireland before and after the Great Recession. Pre-2009 there is clear evidence of bunching in the income distribution just below thresholds that trigger large tax liabilities. This evidence disappears from 2009 onwards. This suggests that the taxpayer response is weaker during a recession. Much of the difference reflects reduced employment in sectors such as construction that exhibit above-average ability to report tax-advantaged incomes. However, even for people who remained with the same firm over the period the likelihood of reporting a tax-advantaged income fell during the recession. Chapter 2 examines the link between political fragmentation and tax policy. A model of government is presented where an n-member coalition chooses revenue and expenditure policies. I derive the response of tax policy to a change in the number of coalition partners. The model predicts that more fragmentation leads to (i) lower taxes; (ii) lower expenditure; and (iii) lower social security transfers. These results run counter to the conventional wisdom that countries with more fragmented governments have larger public sectors. I test the model on a large panel of developed countries, and all three of the model's predictions are supported. I estimate that moving from a two- to three-party legislature lowers tax revenue by 6.7%, expenditure by 9.5%, and transfers by 5.4%. Chapter 3 tests the relationship between crime and the labour market in Ireland during the boom and bust period 2003--2014. Based on detailed county-level panel data on crime and unemployment register figures, higher unemployment is associated with higher crime rates: I estimate a property crime elasticity of about 0.5. This implies that a 10% rise in numbers on the unemployment register increases thefts and burglaries by 5%. To estimate causal effects, I also test the relationship using a Bartik-style instrumental variable. The IV results confirm that a reduction in employment leads to more crime.PhDEconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133325/1/enda_1.pd

Does statutory incidence matter? Earning responses to to social security contributions

This paper provides evidence that the statutory incidence of taxes can play an important role in determining the behaviour of taxpayers. Using administrative data for Ireland, we find that short-run earnings responses to social security contributions are stronger when formally levied on employees rather than employers. This is despite both taxes being remitted by employers, and goes against the prediction of standard economic models that predict the irrelevance of statutory incidenc

The Optimal Taxation of Network Goods

We derive optimal tax formulas for network goods. The solution trades-off contemporaneous revenue collection against the discounted future flows of reduced network growth. We provide conditions under which the optimal tax sequence is time-invariant, and show that the rates should in general change over time. A quantitative model with consumer heterogeneity highlights patterns in these optimal sequences, and underscores the equity trade-off

Representation of the people: Franchise extension and the "Sinn Féin election" in Ireland, 1918

Electoral reforms in 1918 nearly tripled the number of people eligible to vote in Ireland. Following the reforms - the largest franchise extensions in UK history - the previously obscure Sinn Féin party secured 73 of Ireland's 105 seats, an outcome that presaged a guerrilla war and ultimately independence from the United Kingdom. This paper examines the relationship between the franchise extension and the election results. We find little evidence of a connection between the two. New female voters appear less likely to have supported Sinn Féin. New male voters were slightly more likely to vote for Sinn Féin, but the magnitude of this effect was small and statistically insignificant. In fact, non-voting appears particularly high for both groups of new voters. Our results suggest that the extension of the franchise cannot explain Sinn Féin's victory. We conclude their electoral success was more likely driven by a change of heart on behalf of the Irish electorate, rather than a change in its composition

sj-pdf-1-nvs-10.1177_08997640231189451 – Supplemental material for The U-Shaped Charitable-Giving Curve

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-nvs-10.1177_08997640231189451 for The U-Shaped Charitable-Giving Curve by Enda P. Hargaden and Nicolas J. Duquette in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly</p