TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bradford,David F.
AU  - Shaviro,Daniel N.
TI  - The Economics of Vouchers
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7092
PY  - 1999
Y2  - April 1999
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7092
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7092.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David F. Bradford
Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544-1013
Tel: 609/258-1856
Fax: 609/258-2809
E-Mail: BRADFORD@PRINCETON.EDU

Daniel Shaviro
Law School
New York University
40 Washington Square South
314 B
New York, NY  10012-1066
E-Mail: shavirod@juris.law.nyu.edu
AB  - This paper aims to provide a swift tour of the economic issues presented by vouchers and thus to fill an apparent gap in the literature for a basic survey of the subject.  Among the issues it considers are:  factors determining a voucher's cash-equivalence; reasons (such as paternalism, externalities, and distribution) for giving beneficiaries non-cash-equivalent vouchers rather than cash; optimal tax issues involved in the design of vouchers and the choice between vouchers and other delivery mechanisms, including factors determining the optimal marginal reimbursement rate (MRR) in a voucher program, and the similarity between this question and that of determining optimal marginal tax rates (MTRs) under the income tax; the incentive effects of voucher eligibility criteria, such as income or asset tests; factors determining the allocative and price effects of vouchers, both in the short run when unexpectedly enacted and at equilibrium; and factors relevant to the choice between private and public supply that may often overlap with the decision whether to adopt a voucher program.
ER  -