TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

The 19 articles in this volume include George Zodrow's most important contributions to the theory and practice of taxation. They are organized into five general areas: (1) Optimal tax reform, or an analysis of the best ways to implement tax reforms taking into account transitional problems; (2) Consumption-based taxes, including the economic effects of replacing the current income tax with a progressive consumption tax; (3) Income tax reform in the United States and in developing countries; (4) State and local tax policy, including especially the effects of the local property tax; and (5) Tax competition, using models that are applicable at both the state/local and international levels.

In the words of Peter Mieszkowski, Professor Emeritus of Rice University and one of the world's foremost public finance scholars, 'This volume of important papers is a capstone to George Zodrow's distinguished research career. What they reveal is a thinker who works repeatedly on the analysis of practical and concrete applications. The motivating force behind these articles is the conviction that for government to tax appropriately, systems of taxation must be profoundly understood. This volume is a giant step in that direction.'

• Foreword
• Introduction: Taxation in Theory and Practice — Selected Essays of George R Zodrow
• About the Author
• Optimal Tax Reform: Transitional Issues in Implementing Tax Reform:
  • Implementing Tax Reform (George R Zodrow)
  • Optimal Tax Reform in the Presence of Adjustment Costs (George R Zodrow)
  • Grandfather Rules and the Theory of Optimal Tax Reform (George R Zodrow)
  • Consumption Tax Reform: Changes in Business Equity and Housing Prices (John W Diamond and George R Zodrow)
• Consumption Taxation:
  • Should Capital Income Be Subject to Consumption-Based Taxation? (George R Zodrow)
  • A Hybrid Consumption-Based Direct Tax Proposed for Bolivia (Charles E McLure, Jr. and George R Zodrow)
  • US Supreme Court Unanimously Chooses Substance over Form in Foreign Tax Credit Case: Implications of the PPL Decision for the Creditability of Cash-flow Taxes (Charles E McLure, Jr., Jack Mintz and George R Zodrow)
  • Taxation, Uncertainty and the Choice of a Consumption Tax Base (George R Zodrow)
  • Optimal Commodity Taxation of Traditional and Electronic Commerce (George R Zodrow)
• Income Tax Reform:
  • Treasury I and the Tax Reform Act of 1986: The Economics and Politics of Tax Reform (Charles E McLure, Jr and George R Zodrow)
  • The Windfall Recapture Tax: Issues of Theory and Design (George R Zodrow)
  • Balancing Act: Weighing the Factors Affecting the Taxation of Capital Income in a Small Open Economy (Margaret K McKeehan and George R Zodrow)
• State and Local Tax Policy:
  • Revenue Options for the State of Texas (George R Zodrow)
  • The New View of the Property Tax: A Reformulation (George R Zodrow and Peter Mieszkowski)
  • The Property Tax as a Capital Tax: A Room with Three Views (George R Zodrow)
  • Intrajurisdictional Capitalization and the Incidence of the Property Tax (George R Zodrow)
• Tax Competition:
  • Pigou, Tiebout, Property Taxation, and the Underprovision of Local Public Goods (George R Zodrow and Peter Mieszkowski)
  • Capital Mobility and Capital Tax Competition (George R Zodrow)
  • Tax Competition and the Efficiency of 'Benefit-related' Business Taxes (Elisabeth Gugl and George R Zodrow)
• Index