本文以Sandmo引進勞動供給的租稅逃漏模型為基礎，以是否具有其他所得來區別社會上的富人或窮人，富人可以在勞動市場中投入勞動供給賺取勤勞所得，或是將勞動供給投注在以其他所得做投資的投資行為上，賺取資本利得；但是窮人只能將其勞動供給投注在勞動市場中賺取勤勞所得，在雙方決定勞動供給以追求效用極大化下，可決定彼此的所得差距。 由於所得稅具有所得重分配的功能，因此我們首先比較在不同所得稅制下的所得差距，以得知所得稅是否達成其重分配功能。結果是：僅課徵勤勞所得稅時的所得差距會大於未課稅時的所得差距，勤勞所得稅反而使所得情形惡化，因為富人可藉由移轉勞動供給的方式規避稅負；而同時課徵勤勞所得稅及資本利得稅後之所得差距會小於僅課徵勤勞所得稅時的所得差距，代表資本利得稅可有效改善所得分配惡化的現象。 政府除了可以用所得稅的手段改善所得分配外，也可以以移轉性支出的方式達到相同目的。第一個情況是假設目前僅課徵勤勞所得稅，所得差距情形惡化，當政府決定將全國所收取的勤勞所得稅做為移轉性支出平均分發給窮人時，會得到不一定可以改善所得差距惡化現象的結果，必須視窮人對消費和休閒的替代彈性，以及替代效果與所得效果的大小而定。第二個情況是假設目前同時課徵勤勞所得稅及資本利得稅，並以富人所支付的資本利得稅做為移轉性支出平均分發給窮人，此時的移轉性支出能夠進一步改善所得差距惡化的情形。由以上兩段可知，若政府要有效地改善所得差距惡化的情形，最好的辦法是課徵資本利得稅，並將資本利得稅做為移轉性支出的財源。 / In this paper we use a Sandmo’s (1981) type tax evasion model to discuss the effects of proportional income taxation on income distribution among the riches and the poor. The riches are different from the poor in that only the former have exogenous income which can be invested to obtain capital gains. Therefore, while the riches choose between allocating their time to make labor income or to make capital gains, the poor can only attribute their time to making labor income. The tax system treats labor income and capital gains differently. The income distribution among the riches and the poor is determined by the difference in total incomes. We first show that when only labor incomes are taxed, the income tax worsens the income distribution as compared to the income distribution when there is no income tax. In other words, an income tax system with preferential treatments on capital gains is detrimental to income distribution. This result is intuitive because the riches can switch their labor supply from making labor income to making capital gains for tax avoidance, while the poor do not get to do so. An income tax system is beneficial to income distribution when capital gains are taxed at the same rate as labor income. Second we discuss the role of income transfer program on the income distribution and show that if the government uses labor income tax as the only financial source for the transfer, the effect of such income transfers on income distribution is ambiguous. It is decided by the magnitude of the elasticity of substitution between consumption and leisure, and the net effect of the substitution and the income effects. To improve income distribution, the best scenario is to use tax revenues from capital gains as the financial source of income transfer.

<p>This thesis consists of four papers: two of them deal with the relationship between consumption, energy taxation, and emissions on macro level, and two of them focuses on the effects of changes in consumption and income on the environmental quality on a micro level.</p><p>The main objective of paper [I] is to examine how exogenous technological progress, in terms of an increase in energy efficiency, affects consumption choice by Swedish households and thereby emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). The aim of the paper is closely related to the discussion of what is known as the “rebound effect”. To neutralise the rebound effect, we estimate the necessary change in CO2 tax, i.e. the CO2 tax that keeps CO2 emissions at their initial level. In addition, we estimate how this will affect emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The results indicate that an increase in energy efficiency of 20 percent will increase emissions of CO2 by approximately 5 percent. To reduce the CO2 emissions to their initial level, CO2 tax must be raised by 130 percent. This tax increase will reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide to below their initial level, but will leave the emissions of nitrogen oxides at a higher level than initially.</p><p>One of the premises implied in paper [II] is that the changes in consumer prices, as a result of changes in environmental taxes, may send a different signal to the consumer compared with other changes in consumer prices, such as changes in producer price. In addition, this assumed difference in the signaling effect of the changes in environmental taxes, compared to changes in the producer price, may also differ between different commodities. To achieve the objectives a system of demand functions for Swedish households is estimated. To test for the signalling effect of environmental taxes the consumer price for energy goods is partitioned into a producer price part and a tax part.</p><p>In Paper [III], we estimate the income elasticity of demand for recreational services and other traditional groups of goods in Sweden and we test for potential changes in such estimates over the twentieth century. The paper uses Swedish household surveys for the years 1913, 1984, 1988, and 1996. Because of the difficulty of directly observing the demand for recreational services, we employ an indirect methodology by using the demand for some outdoor goods as proxies for the recreational services demand.</p><p>In paper [IV], we investigate the relationship between pollution and income at the household level. Here we want to investigate, and hence contribute to the existing literature, under what conditions concerning individual preferences and the link between consumption and pollution a linear relationship are to be expected, but also to empirically assess the relationship. To achieve our objective we formulate a model determining different type of households’ choice of consumption for goods. Furthermore we link the demand model to emission functions for the various goods. The results from the empirical analysis show that, at least in a close neighbourhood of observed income/pollution, we can reject linearity for all three types of pollutions, CO2, SO2, and NOx. According to our results the pollution/income relationships are all strictly concave. Thus the implication is that the income distribution seems to matter in the sense that equalization of income will lead to higher emissions. Furthermore it is shown that the slope as well as the curvature differs between different types of households, which means that preferences differ across households.</p>

This thesis consists of four papers: two of them deal with the relationship between consumption, energy taxation, and emissions on macro level, and two of them focuses on the effects of changes in consumption and income on the environmental quality on a micro level. The main objective of paper [I] is to examine how exogenous technological progress, in terms of an increase in energy efficiency, affects consumption choice by Swedish households and thereby emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). The aim of the paper is closely related to the discussion of what is known as the “rebound effect”. To neutralise the rebound effect, we estimate the necessary change in CO2 tax, i.e. the CO2 tax that keeps CO2 emissions at their initial level. In addition, we estimate how this will affect emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The results indicate that an increase in energy efficiency of 20 percent will increase emissions of CO2 by approximately 5 percent. To reduce the CO2 emissions to their initial level, CO2 tax must be raised by 130 percent. This tax increase will reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide to below their initial level, but will leave the emissions of nitrogen oxides at a higher level than initially. One of the premises implied in paper [II] is that the changes in consumer prices, as a result of changes in environmental taxes, may send a different signal to the consumer compared with other changes in consumer prices, such as changes in producer price. In addition, this assumed difference in the signaling effect of the changes in environmental taxes, compared to changes in the producer price, may also differ between different commodities. To achieve the objectives a system of demand functions for Swedish households is estimated. To test for the signalling effect of environmental taxes the consumer price for energy goods is partitioned into a producer price part and a tax part. In Paper [III], we estimate the income elasticity of demand for recreational services and other traditional groups of goods in Sweden and we test for potential changes in such estimates over the twentieth century. The paper uses Swedish household surveys for the years 1913, 1984, 1988, and 1996. Because of the difficulty of directly observing the demand for recreational services, we employ an indirect methodology by using the demand for some outdoor goods as proxies for the recreational services demand. In paper [IV], we investigate the relationship between pollution and income at the household level. Here we want to investigate, and hence contribute to the existing literature, under what conditions concerning individual preferences and the link between consumption and pollution a linear relationship are to be expected, but also to empirically assess the relationship. To achieve our objective we formulate a model determining different type of households’ choice of consumption for goods. Furthermore we link the demand model to emission functions for the various goods. The results from the empirical analysis show that, at least in a close neighbourhood of observed income/pollution, we can reject linearity for all three types of pollutions, CO2, SO2, and NOx. According to our results the pollution/income relationships are all strictly concave. Thus the implication is that the income distribution seems to matter in the sense that equalization of income will lead to higher emissions. Furthermore it is shown that the slope as well as the curvature differs between different types of households, which means that preferences differ across households.

Questa tesi è composta di tre saggi collegati relativi a povertà, distribuzione del reddito e stato di nutrizione dei bambini in Uganda. Il primo saggio intitolato “Poverty reduction and Income Distribution Impacts of Exogenous Policy Shocks in Uganda: A Social Accounting Matrix Perspective” analizza come e quali settori ed agenti economici sarebbero maggiormente colpiti da shock esogeni di politica economica che abbiano l'obiettivo della crescita economica, distribuzione del reddito e della riduzione della povertà. La metodologia applicata in questo studio è un modello di equilibrio economico generale - il modello del moltiplicatore della Matrice di Contabilità Sociale (SAM)- basato sulla SAM Ugandese del 2002. Il secondo saggio intitolato “Measurement of Multidimensional Child Poverty in Uganda” utilizza indicatori antropometrici ed un indicatore composito della ricchezza famigliare come misure del benessere dei bambini e applica l'approccio del Dual Cutoff e Counting proposto da Alkire e Foster (2007, 2011) per costruire un indice multidimensionale della povertà infantile in Uganda. Il terzo saggio, intitolato “The Relationship Between Maternal Autonomy and Child Stunting in Uganda” utilizza utilizza misure di autonomia femminile quali la libertà di movimento per visitare la famiglia ed i parenti, il potere decisionale nel fare cospicue spese familiari e giornaliere e l'atteggiamento femminile verso l'abuso fisico e verbale per analizzare la relazione tra autonomia femminile e rachitismo infantile in Uganda. I dati per i saggi 2 e 3 provengono dall'Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) per l'anno 2006. I risultati dimostrano che il settore immobiliare, agricolo, commerciale e di trasformazione alimentare sono fondamentali in Uganda; 30% dei bambini sono multidimensionalmente poveri e una bassa autonomia materna è associata al rachitismo. / The thesis consists of three interrelated essays on poverty, income distribution and child nutritional status in Uganda. The first essay titled “Poverty reduction and Income Distribution Impacts of Exogenous Policy Shocks in Uganda: A Social Accounting Matrix Perspective” asks, how and which sectors and economic agents would be most affected by exogenous policy shocks that target growth, income distribution and poverty reduction? This is answered by a way of a general equilibrium model - the social accounting matrix (SAM)-based multiplier model based on the 2002 Uganda SAM. The second essay titled “Measurement of Multidimensional Child Poverty in Uganda” uses the anthropometric indicators and a household composite wealth indicator as measures of child well-being and applies the Dual Cutoff and Counting approach proposed by Alkire and Foster (2007, 2011) to construct a multidimensional child poverty index for Uganda. The third essay titled “The Relationship Between Maternal Autonomy and Child Stunting in Uganda” uses direct evidence on measures of women’s autonomy namely, freedom of movement to visit families or relatives, decisionmaking power on making large household and daily purchases, and women’s attitude toward verbal and physical abuse to examine the relationship between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Uganda. Data for essay 2 and 3 were drawn from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) for the year 2006. Results show that key sectors in Uganda are Real estate, Agriculture, Trade and Food processing industries; 30% of children are multidimensionally poor; and low maternal autonomy is associated with stunting.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Economics

Questa tesi offre una descrizione dettagliata di come i modelli di equilibrio generale computazionale (CGE) ed i modelli di microsimulazione possano essere utilizzati congiuntamente, partendo dalla letteratura piú recente sull'argomento, e focalizzando l'attenzione in particolare sulla letteratura riguardante i paesi in via di sviluppo. La ragione principale per la quale questi modelli vengono utilizzati congiuntamente risiede nel fatto che il ricercatore vuole essere in grado di studiare contemporaneamente l'eterogeneità degli agenti economici e la complessità della distribuzione del reddito, ed allo stesso tempo di valutare gli effetti macroeconomici delle riforme. Nell'ultimo capitolo costruiamo un modello CGE-microsimulazione per l'economia del Nicaragua. Esso si rivela particolarmente adatto alla riforma di politica economica che vogliamo simulare: l'accordo di libero scambio commerciale tra i paesi dell'America Centrale e gli Stati Uniti è infatti una riforma di tipo macroeconomico, la quale potrebbe tuttavia avere effetti significativi sulla distribuzione del reddito. Con questo modello analizzeremo quindi gli effetti dell'accordo commerciale con gli Stati Uniti sulla distribuzione del reddito in Nicaragua. I risultati dell'analisi registrano soltanto piccole variazioni sia nelle principali variabili macroeconomiche che nella distribuzione del reddito e negli indici di povertà. / This thesis wants to give an assessment and a detailed description of how Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) and microsimulation models can be linked together, taking inspiration from the current literature, with a special focus concerning the literature on developing countries. The main reason why these models are linked together is that the modeller wants to be able to take into account full agents' heterogeneity and the complexity of income distribution, and at the same time to analyse the macroeconomic effects of the policy reforms. In the last chapter, we build a CGE-microsimulation model for the economy of Nicaragua. This model appears to be particularly suited to the policy reform we are willing to simulate with the model: the Free Trade Agreement of Central American countries with USA is mainly a macroeconomic reform, which on the other hand can have important effects on the distribution of income and on poverty. With such a model we will study the possible changes in the distribution of income in Nicaragua deriving from the Free Trade Agreement with USA. Our analysis finds only small changes both in the main macroeconomic variables and in the distribution of income and poverty indices.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

No description available.

Univ., Diss--Göteborg, 2008. / Enth. 4 Beitr. Zsfassung in engl. Sprache.

No description available.