Handbook of Public Economics (Volume 5) (Handbooks in Economics: Different Titles)

In the Handbook of Public Economics, vol. 5, top scholars provide context and order to new research about mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications. These fundamental subjects follow the recent, steady movement away from rational decision-making and toward more personalized approaches to tax generation and expenditure, especially in terms of the use of psychological methods and financial incentives. Closely scrutinized subjects include new research in empirical (instead of theoretical) public finance, the methods for measuring taxes (both in revenue generation and expenditure), and the roles that taxes play in specific settings, such as emerging economies, urban settings, charitable giving, and among political entities (cities, counties, states, countries). Contributors look at both the ''tax'' and ''expenditure'' sides of public finance, emphasizing recent influences that psychology and philosophy have exerted in economics with articles on behavioral finance, charitable giving, and dynamic taxation. To a field enjoying rapid growth, their articles bring context and order, illuminating the mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications. Editor Raj Chetty is the recipient of the 2013 John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association Focuses on new approaches to both revenue generation and expenditures in public finance Presents coherent summaries of subjects in public economics that stretch from methodologies to applications Makes details about public economics accessible to scholars in fields outside economics The Field of Public Economics has been changing rapidly in recent years, and the sixteen chapters contained in this Handbook survey many of the new developments. As a field, Public Economics is defined by its objectives rather than its techniques and much of what is new is the application of modern methods of economic theory and econometrics to problems that have been addressed by economists for over two hundred years. More generally, the discussion of public finance issues also involves elements of political science, finance and philosophy. These connections are evidence in several of the chapters that follow. Public Economics is the positive and normative study of government's effect on the economy. We attempt to explain why government behaves as it does, how its behavior influences the behavior of private firms and households, and what the welfare effects of such changes in behavior are. Following Musgrave (1959) one may imagine three purposes for government intervention in the economy: allocation, when market failure causes the private outcome to be Pareto inefficient, distribution, when the private market outcome leaves some individuals with unacceptably low shares in the fruits of the economy, and stabilization, when the private market outcome leaves some of the economy's resources underutilized. The recent trend in economic research has tended to emphasize the character of stabilization problems as problems of allocation in the labor market. The effects that government intervention can have on the allocation and distribution of an economy's resources are described in terms of efficiency and incidence effects. These are the primary measures used to evaluate the welfare effects of government policy.

In the Handbook of Public Economics, vol. 5, top scholars provide context and order to new research about mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications. These fundamental subjects follow the recent, steady movement away from rational decision-making and toward more personalized approaches to tax generation and expenditure, especially in terms of the use of psychological methods and financial incentives. Closely scrutinized subjects include new research in empirical (instead of theoretical) public finance, the methods for measuring taxes (both in revenue generation and expenditure), and the roles that taxes play in specific settings, such as emerging economies, urban settings, charitable giving, and among political entities (cities, counties, states, countries). Contributors look at both the "tax" and "expenditure" sides of public finance, emphasizing recent influences that psychology and philosophy have exerted in economics with articles on behavioral finance, charitable giving, and dynamic taxation. To a field enjoying rapid growth, their articles bring context and order, illuminating the mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications.

• Editor Raj Chetty is the recipient of the 2013 John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association
• Focuses on new approaches to both revenue generation and expenditures in public finance
• Presents coherent summaries of subjects in public economics that stretch from methodologies to applications
• Makes details about public economics accessible to scholars in fields outside economics

Content: Handbook of Public Economics Page i Handbook of Public Economics Page iii Copyright Page iv Introduction to the Series Page ix Preface Pages xi-xii List of Contributors Page xiii Chapter 1 - Charitable Giving Pages 1-50 James Andreoni, A. Abigail Payne Chapter 2 - Taxation and Development Pages 51-110 Timothy Besley, Torsten Persson Chapter 3 - Social Insurance: Connecting Theory to Data Pages 111-193 Raj Chetty, Amy Finkelstein Chapter 4 - Urban Public Finance Pages 195-256 Edward L. Glaeser Chapter 5 - The Theory of International Tax Competition and Coordination Pages 257-328 Michael Keen, Kai A. Konrad Chapter 6 - Taxation of Intergenerational Transfers and Wealth Pages 329-390 Wojciech Kopczuk Chapter 7 - Optimal Labor Income Taxation Pages 391-474 Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez Index Pages 475-481 Features top scholars who provide context and order to new research about mechanisms that underlie both public finance theories and applications. This title focuses on new approaches to both revenue generation and expenditures in public finance. It presents summaries of subjects in public economics that stretch from methodologies to applications. Contains eight essays on various topics in public economics. This handbook begins with an historical perspective on the growth of the area and focuses on the theory and evidence about the impact of taxation on economic behavior. It surveys the field of public economics by those actually doing work on the frontier of the subject.