Publications

18 Jan 2012
News

Politics, Tax Code Said to Stymie U.S.

Book Review

Review of Global Tax Fairness edited by Thomas Pogge and Krishen Mehta

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

This timely volume (Global Tax Fairness, edited by Thomas Pogge and Krishen Mehta) on the proper taxation of multinational enterprises argues that several feasible, near-term reforms could substantially narrow the scope for tax avoidance by closing information gaps,... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Global Range; Policy; Fairness

14 Mar 2013
Working Paper Summaries

No Taxation without Information: Deterrence and Self-Enforcement in the Value Added Tax

Keywords: by Dina Pomeranz

January – March 2012
Article

Bond Risk, Bond Return Volatility, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates

By: Luis M. Viceira

This paper explores time variation in bond risk, as measured by the covariation of bond returns with stock returns and with consumption growth, and in the volatility of bond returns. A robust stylized fact in empirical finance is that the spread between the yield on... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Volatility; Forecasting and Prediction; Interest Rates; Inflation and Deflation; Investment Return; Risk and Uncertainty; Currency Exchange Rate; Cash Flow; Stocks

2024
Article

Technological Adoption and Taxation: The Case of China's Golden Tax Reform

By: Haichao Fan, Yu Liu, Nancy Qian and Jaya Y. Wen

This paper investigates the effect of Phase 2 of the Golden Tax Project on VAT in China. The reform introduced computer-generated invoices and electronic transaction linking. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we show that the reform increased VAT by reducing... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Economic Growth; China

Purchase

02 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Signing at the Top: The Key to Preventing Tax Fraud?

the Internal Revenue Service is the federal tax gap, which is the difference between what Americans should pay on their taxes and what they actually do pay. According to the IRS's most recent estimates the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Accounting

13 Jun 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: A Startup Takes On the Credit Ratings Giants

giant that's been in business for nearly a century decides to assign a triple-A rating to a product that should be triple-C. The effects of such errors in judgment are far-reaching. View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Banking; Financial Services

24 Feb 2012
News

Romney Tax Cut Proposal Relies on Rapid Growth Paired With Missing Details

31 Jan 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Peer Effects and Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Ramana Nanda & Jesper B. Sørensen

January–February 2020
Article

Give Your Colleague the Rating He Deserves—or the One He Wants?

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Joshua D. Margolis and Amy Gallo

The article presents a case study on business friendship and its possible effect on employee ratings. It mentions a hypothetical case where one member of a team didn't meet his deadlines on the development of a new product, the use of a peer-to-peer employee rating... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Relationships; Performance Evaluation; Decision Making

Register to Read

08 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Role of Taxes in the Disconnect Between Corporate Performance and Economic Growth

Keywords: by Urooj Khan, Suresh Nallareddy, and Ethan Rouen

23 Aug 2006
Op-Ed

The Real Wal-Mart Effect

the United States, and its growth rate in the last twenty years has steadily declined from 30-plus percent to below the 10 percent mark in 2006. Wal-Mart has also been slowed by rapid increases in particular cost elements such as... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat & Ken A. Mark; Retail

Article

How Well Do Social Ratings Actually Measure Corporate Social Responsibility?

By: Aaron K. Chatterji, David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel

Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and capabilities influence billions of dollars of "socially responsible" investments as well as some consumers, activists, and potential employees. In one of the first studies to assess these ratings, we examine how... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Effectiveness; Natural Environment; Pollutants

04 Jan 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Learning Effects of Monitoring

Keywords: by Dennis Campbell, Marc Epstein & Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez; Entertainment & Recreation

October 22, 2012
Article

Interest Rate Pass-Through: Mortgage Rates, Household Consumption, and Voluntary Deleveraging

By: Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Benjamin Keys, Tomasz Piskorski, Rodney Ramcharan, Amit Seru and Vincent Yao

Exploiting variation in the timing of resets of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), we find that a sizable decline in mortgage payments (up to 50%) induces a significant increase in car purchases (up to 35%). This effect is attenuated by voluntary deleveraging. Borrowers... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Household Finance; Refinancing; Contract Rigidities; Debt Rigidity; MPC; Deleveraging; Personal Finance; Household; Policy; Borrowing and Debt; Macroeconomics

13 May 2014
Op-Ed

The Alibaba Effect

if today's 40 percent personal savings rate is to be reduced, thereby unleashing cash to fuel new growth in consumer spending. Creating this domestic safety net will be crucial to enabling Alibaba to grow even faster. But don't look for... View Details

Keywords: by Bill Kirby & Warren McFarlan; Retail

13 Jan 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Forward Guidance in the Yield Curve: Short Rates versus Bond Supply

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, and Dimitri Vayanos; Financial Services

24 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Tax Reform is on the Front Burner Again. Here’s Why You Should Care

of the current seven individual tax brackets with three brackets, with rates at 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent. A 20 percent corporate tax rate, down from 39.1 percent.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2013
Comment

Fairness and Redistribution: Comment

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

In an influential paper, Alesina and Angeletos (2005)—henceforth, AA—argued that a preference for fairness could lead two identical societies to choose different economic systems. In particular, two equilibria might arise: one with low taxes and a belief that the... View Details

Keywords: Taxes; Beliefs; Economic Systems; Values and Beliefs; Fairness; Taxation