In this paper we study the effect of deregulation on innovation in the electricity sector using a sample composed of 31 OECD countries. Exploiting sharp reductions in the level of product market regulation, explicitly linked to changes in the legal framework, we perform a difference-indifference analysis by matching data retrieved from the OECD International Regulation, OECD Patent Grants, and UN World Development Indicators databases. Our main findings suggest that a decrease in regulation intensity following a significant reform has a negative impact on patents (granted by the European Patent Office), and that this impact is mainly due to the degree of market contestability. Consistent with the results of Aghion et al. [1], we also find evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between regulation and innovation. This may imply that the effect of deregulation on innovation depends on the strength of the deregulatory process.
What is a good incentive-compatible policy when one wants to respect individual choices of labor and human capital but eliminate inequalities due to unequal access to human capital and di¤erent returns to human capital, and when earnings and human capital expenditures are the only veri…able variables? We propose a social ordering that incorporates this goal and we analyze the evaluation of tax reforms and the properties of optimal linear and non-linear taxes. For reform evaluation and for optimal non-linear taxation, the focus is on the situation of individuals with the most disadvantaged characteristics who work full time and spend a certain (high) amount in human capital.
We consider a model where agents differ in their preferences about consumption labor and health, in their (health-dependent) earning ability, and in their health disposition. We study the joint taxation of income and health expenditure, under incentive-compatibility constraints, on the basis of efficiency and fairness principles. The fairness principles we consider propose, on one side, to reduce inequalities deriving from factors that do not depend on individuals' responsibility. On the other side, redistribution should be precluded at least when all agents in the economy have equal physical characteristics. We construct, on the basis of such principles, a particular social welfare function. Then we give the explicit formula for the comparison of tax policies: we prove that a tax reform should always benefit agents with the worst earning ability and the worst health disposition first. Finally, at the bottom of the income distribution the optimal tax scheme should exhibit non-uniform tax rates over health expenditure and non-positive average marginal tax rates over income.
pubblicazione internet realizzata con contributo della società italiana di economia pubblica dipartimento di economia pubblica e territoriale -università di pavia
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