<p>This thesis consists of a summary and four papers. The first two papers are theoretical contributions within the area of optimal taxation and public expenditures under asymmetric information between the government and the private sector, and the last two are empirical contributions to the literature on local public expenditures.</p><p>Paper [I] concerns the optimal use of publicly provided private goods in an economy with equilibrium unemployment. The paper points out that imperfect competition in the labor market gives rise to additional policy incentives associated with the self-selection constraint, which motivates adjustments in the public provision of private goods. It also addresses employment related motives behind publicly provided private goods.</p><p>Paper [II] addresses optimal income and commodity taxation in a dynamic economy, where used durable goods are subject to second-hand trade. In our framework, the government is unable to directly control second-hand transactions via commodity taxation. We show how the appearance of a second-hand market affects the use of commodity taxation on the new durable goods as well as the use of income taxation.</p><p>Paper [III] relates the existence and size of the flypaper effect to observable municipal characteristics. The analysis is based on a political economy model, which implies that the effect of a change in the tax base on the majority voter's tax share will be crucial for finding a flypaper effect. The empirical part is based on Swedish data on municipal expenditures and revenues for the period 1996-2004. The results show that the size of the flypaper effect varies among municipalities depending on the relative composition of grant and tax base.</p><p>In Paper [IV], the composition of municipal expenditures in Sweden is analyzed by estimating a demand system for local public services, in which tax revenue collection is treated as endogenous. The estimation is based on the QAIDS specification and uses panel data for the period 1998-2005 and for six local public services. The results show that the point estimates of the income elasticities are positive (with one exception), whereas the point estimates of the own-price elasticities are negative and less than one.</p>

Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This thesis consists of a summary and four papers. The first two papers are theoretical contributions within the area of optimal taxation and public expenditures under asymmetric information between the government and the private sector, and the last two are empirical contributions to the literature on local public expenditures. Paper [I] concerns the optimal use of publicly provided private goods in an economy with equilibrium unemployment. The paper points out that imperfect competition in the labor market gives rise to additional policy incentives associated with the self-selection constraint, which motivates adjustments in the public provision of private goods. It also addresses employment related motives behind publicly provided private goods. Paper [II] addresses optimal income and commodity taxation in a dynamic economy, where used durable goods are subject to second-hand trade. In our framework, the government is unable to directly control second-hand transactions via commodity taxation. We show how the appearance of a second-hand market affects the use of commodity taxation on the new durable goods as well as the use of income taxation. Paper [III] relates the existence and size of the flypaper effect to observable municipal characteristics. The analysis is based on a political economy model, which implies that the effect of a change in the tax base on the majority voter's tax share will be crucial for finding a flypaper effect. The empirical part is based on Swedish data on municipal expenditures and revenues for the period 1996-2004. The results show that the size of the flypaper effect varies among municipalities depending on the relative composition of grant and tax base. In Paper [IV], the composition of municipal expenditures in Sweden is analyzed by estimating a demand system for local public services, in which tax revenue collection is treated as endogenous. The estimation is based on the QAIDS specification and uses panel data for the period 1998-2005 and for six local public services. The results show that the point estimates of the income elasticities are positive (with one exception), whereas the point estimates of the own-price elasticities are negative and less than one.

This study examines the impact of exchange rate on inflation in Nigeria economy between 1970 and 2007. We analyzed the trend of inflation and exchange rate in the last 38 years by evaluating the relationship between government expenditure, money supply, Oil revenue, exchange rate and inflation as the dependent variables. We adopted the Augmented Dickey- Fuller to carry out the unit root test and co integration with Johansen test. Our result shows that the individual variables are integrated order one, that is a unit root exist. This means that each variable tends to follow a random walk. On the other hand, inflation rate, exchange rate, oil revenue, government spending and money supply are co integrated. This revealed a strong relationship among the variables though inflation rate and exchange rate show no long term relationship, but short term relationship seems to exist between them.

According to the Dutch Disease core model a boom in natural resources will eventually lead to a shift of production between sectors: from tradable goods to non-tradable goods. The authors found it interesting to research if United Arab Emirates has been a subject to any of the effects caused by the disease, due to the oil boom during the 1970s and the huge development that has appeared in the country. If the United Arab Emirates would be a vic-tim of the disease the decline in exports of the natural resource will result in a decline in the non-oil tradable goods which will affect the country negatively. Furthermore, the disease can also make it more difficult for the country to deal with the problem of high inflation. A time series covering the period 1975-2005 is used to analyse if the United Arab Emirates has experienced symptoms of the disease. Results show that the country has experienced some symptoms of the Dutch Disease during the period 1975-198 since changes in the price of oil caused tradables to shift to the non-tradable sector. Another sign of the disease is the high inflation rate Unite Arab Emirates experienced during the selected period, how-ever high inflation rate could be caused by other factors as well. Furthermore, the larger in-crease in the non-tradable sector compared to the tradable sector is also an indication of the disease in the country. According to these findings the authors can conclude that United Arab Emirates has experienced symptoms of the disease, however, it cannot be concluded that it has been a victim of the disease.

ABSTRACT In this thesis, I evaluate how fiscal and monetary stimulus policies contribute to the economic recovery process of recessions in the United States. Using a case study approach, I will study ten major recessions over the 20th century and early 21st century to answer this question. I will study the different fiscal and monetary policies implemented during the following recessions: the Great Depression; the Recession of 1937, the Recession of 1945, the Recession of 1953, the 1973-75 Recession, the 1980 Recession, the Early 1980s Recession, the Early 1990s Recession, the Early 2000s Recession, and the Late-2000s Recession. The literature suggests a wide range of conflicting viewpoints as to the most effective stimulus policies for economic recovery. I conclude that while both monetary and fiscal stimulus policies have been effective in contributing to GDP growth and reductions in unemployment, it is evident that each recession requires a unique policy response. In many cases, I find value in implementing both monetary and fiscal policy, jointly, as they complement one another. I also find that, generally, monetary policy is most effective in contributing to the economic recovery process of recessions through open market operations that reduce the interest rate and that fiscal policy is most effective in contributing to the economic recovery process of recessions through government spending. My systematic exploration of these policies and the recession case studies, provide valuable information of the effects of these policies and provide insight into the appropriate use of stimulus policies in the current economy and for future recessions and recoveries.

Canadian federalism has experienced pressure for change in recent years. By the end of the twentieth century, collaboration became the catch word and federations throughout the world, including Canada, witnessed an emergent movement toward collaborative governance, collaborative public service delivery, collaborative management and collaborative approaches to addressing social and economic issues. But even if the number of collaborative arrangements has grown since the 1990s, the understanding of the design, management and performance of collaborative arrangements in the Canadian federation remains weak. Accordingly, this dissertation argues that, in order to understand and open the black box of intergovernmental collaboration, it is necessary to put collaboration in a historical context and explore the roles of elites and political institutions in shaping intergovernmental collaborative practices. The role of the former provides the necessary complement of agency, while that of the latter represents a perspective that gives theoretical importance to political institutions. The integration of the two theoretical schools, elite theory and historical institutionalism, into one approach constitutes an attractive solution and offers the tools necessary to explore the complex processes of intergovernmental collaboration. The theoretical framework constructed in this dissertation is then applied to analyze whether the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Social Union Framework Agreement and the Council of the Federation can be considered in reality as examples of collaborative federalism.

The dissertation aims at broadening our understanding of tax evasion and government spending in developing countries. It comprises three essays. The first essay deals with estimation of tax evasion in a cross-section of developing countries by estimating their underground economies using the currency demand method. By including enforcement parameters of the tax authorities as another factor of tax evasion in the currency demand equation, it presents theory-consistent tax evasion measurement. Our estimation strategy includes the use of the Arellano-Bond dynamic panel data method that is suitable for correcting the endogeneity problem in the currency demand estimation. The study finds substantial underground economy in developing countries, ranging from 2-67 percent of GDP. The second essay is concerned with time series measurement of the underground economy in South Africa using the currency demand method. Unlike other similar studies on South Africa, it gives sufficient attention to the unit root problem that is common in time series analysis of the currency demand method. Using the Error Correction Method (ECM), it investigates the relationship between the tax rate and the currency demand, and presents yearly estimates of the underground economy for the period 1965-2002. The third essay deals with the behavior of government spending in South Africa for the period 1960-2002. Since South Africa went through various political and macroeconomic shocks during this period, we augment measures of these shocks to the standard median voter model to assess the determinants of government spending in South Africa. Using the Error Correction Method (ECM), we investigate the long-run and short-run behavior of government spending. We find that, in addition to the tax share and the income of the median voter, macroeconomic and political shocks were also significant factors in determining government spending in South Africa. This study broadens our understanding of the behavior of government spending in the presence of political and macroeconomic shocks that are common in small open developing economies.

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<p>According to the Dutch Disease core model a boom in natural resources will eventually lead to a shift of production between sectors: from tradable goods to non-tradable goods. The authors found it interesting to research if United Arab Emirates has been a subject to any of the effects caused by the disease, due to the oil boom during the 1970s and the huge development that has appeared in the country. If the United Arab Emirates would be a vic-tim of the disease the decline in exports of the natural resource will result in a decline in the non-oil tradable goods which will affect the country negatively. Furthermore, the disease can also make it more difficult for the country to deal with the problem of high inflation. A time series covering the period 1975-2005 is used to analyse if the United Arab Emirates has experienced symptoms of the disease. Results show that the country has experienced some symptoms of the Dutch Disease during the period 1975-198 since changes in the price of oil caused tradables to shift to the non-tradable sector. Another sign of the disease is the high inflation rate Unite Arab Emirates experienced during the selected period, how-ever high inflation rate could be caused by other factors as well. Furthermore, the larger in-crease in the non-tradable sector compared to the tradable sector is also an indication of the disease in the country. According to these findings the authors can conclude that United Arab Emirates has experienced symptoms of the disease, however, it cannot be concluded that it has been a victim of the disease.</p>