Tax Incidence

This chapter reviews the concepts, methods, and results of studies that analyze the incidence of taxes. The purpose of such studies is to determine how the burden of a particular tax is allocated among consumers through higher product prices, workers through a lower wage rate, or other factors of production through lower rates of return to those factors. The methods might involve simple partial equilibrium models, analytical general equilibrium models, or computable general equilibrium models. We review partial equilibrium models, where the burden of a tax is shown to depend on the elasticity of supply relative to the elasticity of demand. In particular, we consider partial equilibrium models with imperfect competition. Turning to a general equilibrium setting, we review the classic model of Harberger (1962) and illustrate its generality by applying it to a number of different contexts. We also use this model to demonstrate the practicality of analytical general equilibrium modeling through the use of log linearization techniques. We then turn to dynamic models to show how a tax on capital affects capital accumulation, future wage rates, and overall burdens. Such models might also provide analytical results or computational results. We also focus on relatively recent models that calculate the lifetime incidence of taxes, with both intratemporal and intertemporal redistribution. Finally, the chapter reviews the use of incidence methods and results in the policy process.

The Distribution of Tax Burdens: An Introduction

This paper summarizes important developments in tax incidence analysis over the past forty years. We mark the date of the beginning of modern tax incidence analysis with the publication of Harberger (1962) and discuss the relation of subsequent work to this seminal paper.

A Tax on Output of the Polluting Industry is Not a Tax on Pollution: The Importance of Hitting the Target

We explore the effects of environmental taxes that imprecisely target pollution. A review of actual policies indicates few (if any) examples of a true tax on pollution. More typically, environmental taxes target an input or output that is correlated with pollution. We construct a simple analytical general equilibrium model to calculate the optimum tax rate on the input of the polluting industry, in terms of key behavioral parameters, and we compare this imprecisely-targeted tax to an ideal tax on pollution. Finally, we consider incremental tax reforms such as a change in either tax from some pre-existing level. Using a utility-based money-metric measure of welfare, we examine the losses that arise from not taxing pollution directly. With no existing tax, under our plausible parameters, the welfare gain from an output tax is less that half the gain from an emissions tax.

Current-induced Pinwheel Oscillations in Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Spin Valve Nanopillars

Nanopillar spin valve devices are typically comprised of two ferromagnetic layers: a reference layer and a free layer whose magnetic orientation can be changed by both an external magnetic field and through the introduction of spin-polarized electric current. Here we report the continuous repeated switching behavior of both the reference and free layers of a perpendicular spin valve made of Co/Pd and Co/Ni multilayers that arises for sufficiently large DC currents. This periodic switching of the two layers produces an oscillating signal in the MHz regime but is only observed for one sign of the applied current. The observed behavior agrees well with micromagnetic simulations

Directory of aerospace safety specialized information sources

Directory aids safety specialists in locating information sources and individual experts in engineering-related fields. Lists 170 organizations and approximately 300 individuals who can provide safety-related technical information in form of documentation, data, and consulting expertise. Information on hazard and failure cause identification, accident analysis, and materials characteristics are covered