Books
The Theory of Taxation and Public Economics (Princeton University Press, 2008; paperback, 2011) [Amazon (purchase)]
Journal Articles, Book Chapters, and Encyclopedia Entries
Optimal Income Taxation, Journal of Economic Literature (forthcoming). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Market Power and Income Taxation, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol. 13, pp. 329-354 (2021). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
A Unified Perspective on Efficiency, Redistribution, and Public Policy, National Tax Journal, vol. 73, pp. 429-472 (2020). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Optimal Regulation with Exemptions, International Journal of Industrial Organization, vol. 66, pp. 1-39 (2019). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
A Distribution-Neutral Perspective on Tax Expenditure Limitations, in Tax Policy and the Economy, vol. 31 (Moffitt, ed., NBER and University of Chicago Press, 2017), pp. 161-188. [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Commentary on the Economic and Distributional Effects of Tax Expenditure Limits, in The Economics of Tax Policy (Auerbach & Smetters, eds., 2017), pp. 145-155.
Myopia and the Effects of Social Security and Capital Taxation on Labor Supply, National Tax Journal, vol. 68, 7-32 (2015). [Olin Center WP]
Government Policy and Labor Supply with Myopic or Targeted Savings Decisions, in Tax Policy and the Economy, vol. 29 (Brown, ed.; NBER and University of Chicago Press, 2015), pp. 159-193. [NBER] [Olin Center WP]Optimal Control of Externalities in the Presence of an Income Tax, International Economic Review (forthcoming 2012). [Olin Center WP]
An Optimal Tax System, Fiscal Studies, vol. 32. 415-435 (2011). [Olin Center WP]
Discount Rates, Social Judgments, Individuals’ Risk Preferences, and Uncertainty (with David Weisbach), Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, vol. 42, 125-142 (2011).
Targeted Savings and Labor Supply, International Tax and Public Finance, vol. 18, pp. 507-518 (2011) [Olin Center WP]
Utility from Accumulation, National Tax Association Proceedings, 102nd Annual Conference 2009, 189-194 (2011). [Olin Center WP]
Taxes, Permits, and Climate Change, in U.S. Energy Tax Policy (Metcalf, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2011), 168-192. [Olin Center WP]
Taxing Leisure Complements, Economic Inquiry, vol. 48, 1065-1071 (2010). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Concavity of Utility, Concavity of Welfare, and Redistribution of Income, International Tax and Public Finance, vol. 17, 25-42 (2010). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
The Social Evaluation of Intergenerational Policies and Its Application to Integrated Assessment Models of Climate Change (with Elisabeth Moyers & David Weisbach), B.E. Journal of Economics Analysis & Policy, vol. 10, issue 2, art. 7, 1-32 (2010); also in Distributional Aspects of Energy and Climate Change (Cohen, Fullerton & Topel, eds., Edward Elgar, 2013), pp. 41-74. [BE Press ]
On the Taxation of Private Transfers, Tax Law Review, vol. 63, 159-187 (2009). [Olin Center WP]
Optimal Policy with Heterogeneous Preferences. 8 B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy: Advances, Issue 1, Article 40, 1-28. (2008) [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Capital Levies and Transition to a Consumption Tax, in Institutional Foundations of Public Finance: Economic and Legal Perspectives (Auerbach & Shapiro, eds., Harvard University Press, 2008). [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Optimal Taxation, in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition (Durlauf & Blume, eds., Macmillan, 2008). [Olin Center WP]
Income Taxation and Optimal Government Policy, in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition (Durlauf & Blume, eds., Macmillan, 2008). [Olin Center WP]
Taxation, in Handbook of Law and Economics. (Polinsky & Shavell, eds., Elsevier, 2007), vol. 1, pp. 647-755 [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Primary Goods, Capabilities, or …Well-Being? Philosophical Review, vol. 116, 603-632 (2007). [Olin Center WP]
Optimal Income Transfers, International Tax and Public Finance, vol. 14, 295-325 (2007). [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Taxation and Redistribution: Some Clarifications, Tax Law Review, vol. 60, 57-81 (2007). [Olin Center WP]
Discounting Dollars, Discounting Lives: Intergenerational Distributive Justice and Efficiency, University of Chicago Law Review, vol. 74, 79-118 (2007). [WWW] [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
On the Undesirability of Commodity Taxation Even When Income Taxation Is Not Optimal, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 90, 1235-1250 (2006). [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Public Goods and the Distribution of Income, European Economic Review, vol. 50, 1627-1660 (2006). [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Why Measure Inequality?, Journal of Economic Inequality, vol. 3, 65-79 (2005). [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Evaluating Public Goods and Regulations: Response, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 19, no. 4, 233-234. (2005).
Families, Tax Treatment of, in Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, 2nd Edition. Urban Institute Press. (2005)
On the (Ir)Relevance of Distribution and Labor Supply Distortion to Government Policy, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 18, no. 4, 159-175 (2004). [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Transition Policy: A Conceptual Framework, Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, vol. 13, 161-209 (2003).[NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
On the Superiority of Corrective Taxes to Quantity Regulation (with Steven Shavell), American Law and Economics Review, vol. 4, 1-17 (2002). [WWW] [NBER WP] [Olin Center WP]
Horizontal Equity: New Measures, Unclear Principles (Commentary), in Inequality and Tax Policy. (Hassett & Hubbard, eds., American Enterprise Institute, 2001), pp. 75-97. [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
A Framework for Assessing Estate and Gift Taxation, in Rethinking Estate and Gift Taxation. (Gale, Hines & Slemrod, eds.; Brookings Institution, 2001), pp. 164-215. [NBER] [Olin Center WP]
Should Legal Rules Favor the Poor? Clarifying the Role of Legal Rules and the Income Tax in Redistributing Income (with Steven Shavell), Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 29, 821-35 (2000). [WWW] [Olin Center WP]
Families, Tax Treatment of, in Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, pp. 120-22 (Urban Institute Press, 1999).
Accuracy, Complexity, and the Income Tax, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, vol. vol. 14, 61-83 (1998). [NBER WP]
A Note on the Optimal Supply of Public Goods and the Distortionary Cost of Taxation, National Tax Journal, vol. 51, 117-25 (1998). [Olin Center WP]
Tax Policy and Gifts, American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, vol. 88, 283-88 (1998) [NBER WP – Transfer Motives and Tax Policy ] [Olin Center WP – Transfer Motives and Tax Policy]
Tax and Non-Tax Distortions, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 68, 303-06 (1998).
Regional Cost-of-Living Adjustments in Tax-Transfer Schemes, Tax Law Review, vol. 51, 175-198 (1996). [NBER WP]
The Optimal Supply of Public Goods and the Distortionary Cost of Taxation, National Tax Journal, vol. 49, 513-533 (1996).
On the Divergence Between “Ideal” and Conventional Income Tax Treatment of Human Capital, American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, vol. 86, 347-352 (1996).
Fiscal Federalism and the Deductibility of State and Local Taxes in a Federal Income Tax, Virginia Law Review, vol. 82, 413-492 (1996).
Optimal Distribution and the Family, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol. 98, 75-92 (1996). [NBER WP – Optimal Distribution and Taxation of the Family ]
How Tax Complexity and Enforcement Affect the Equity and Efficiency of the Income Tax, National Tax Journal, vol. 48, 135-150 (1996). Reprinted in Tax Policy in the Real World (Slemrod, ed.; Cambridge University Press, 1999). [NBER WP]
A Fundamental Objection to Tax Equity Norms: A Call for Utilitarianism, National Tax Journal, vol. 48, 497-514 (1995). [NBER WP]
The Income Tax versus the Consumption Tax and the Tax Treatment of Human Capital, Tax Law Review, vol. 51, 35-46 (1995).
A Note on Subsidizing Gifts, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 58, 469-477 (1995). [NBER WP]
Recovery of Pre-Enactment Basis under a Consumption Tax: The USA Tax System, Tax Notes, vol. 68, 1109-1118 (1995).
The Standard Deduction and Floors in the Income Tax, Tax Law Review, vol. 50, 1-31 (1994).
A Note on Taxation as Social Insurance for Uncertain Labor Income, Public Finance, vol. 49, 244-256 (1994). [NBER WP]
Taxation and Risk Taking: A General Equilibrium Perspective, National Tax Journal, vol. 47, 789-798 (1994). [NBER WP]
Human Capital under An Ideal Income Tax, Virginia Law Review, vol. 80, 1477-1514 (1994). [NBER WP – Human Capital and the Income Tax ]
Why the Legal System Is Less Efficient than the Income Tax in Redistributing Income (with Steven Shavell), Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 23, 667-681 (1994). [NBER WP – The Efficiency of the Legal System versus the Income Tax in Redistributing Income ]
An Ex Ante Perspective on Deregulation, Viewed Ex Post, Resource and Energy Economics, vol. 15, 153-173 (1993).
Government Relief for Risk Associated with Government Action, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol. 94, 525-541(1992). [NBER WP]
A Note on Horizontal Equity, Florida Tax Review, vol. 1, 191-196 (1992).
Income Tax Deductions for Losses as Insurance, American Economic Review, vol. 82, 1013-1017 (1992).
The Income Tax as Insurance: The Casualty Loss and Medical Expense Deductions and the Exclusion of Medical Insurance Premiums, California Law Review, vol. 79, 1485-1510 (1991). [NBER WP]
Incentives and Government Relief for Risk, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, vol. 4, 167-175 (1991). [NBER WP]
Optimal Taxation with Costly Enforcement and Evasion, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 43, 221-236 (1990). [NBER WP]
Horizontal Equity: Measures in Search of a Principle, National Tax Journal, vol. 42, 139-154 (1989). [NBER WP]
Savings Incentives in a Hybrid Income Tax: Comment, in Uneasy Compromise: Problems of a Hybrid Income-Consumption Tax. (Aaron et al., eds.; Brookings Institution, 1988), pp. 300-08.
Optimal Transition Policy: Replacing Horizontal Equity with an Ex Ante Incentives Perspective, Dissertation accepted by Harvard University Department of Economics (1987).
Professor Strnad’s Rejoinder: Simply Semantics (with Alvin Warren), Stanford Law Review, vol. 39, 419-425 (1987).
An Economic Analysis of Legal Transitions, Harvard Law Review, vol. 99, 509-617 (1986).
An Income Tax by Any Other Name — A Reply to Professor Strnad (with Alvin Warren), Stanford Law Review, vol. 38, 399-421 (1986).