Public Sector Dynamics

Alan J. Auerbach

NBER Working Paper No. 3508
Issued in November 1990
NBER Program(s):   PE

Using Musgrave's The Theory of Public Finance as a starting point, this paper reviews the scholarly developments in Public Sector Dynamics during the past three decades, placing emphasis not only on accomplishments but also areas in need of additional research. The review is organized into sections covering research on the public debt, its measurement and impact; the fiscal determinants of savings and the choice of tax base; the effects of taxation on investment and risk-taking; dynamic tax incidence; and dynamic inconsistency and public choice. Among the specific research topics considered are the Ricardian equivalence proposition, the incidence of the corporation income tax, the choice between income and consumption taxes, and political business cycles.

(456 K)

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Published: J. Quigley and E. Smolensky, eds. Modern Public Finance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994, pp. 58-84.

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