Abstract

This book is an expanded version of an article by the same authors that appeared in 2000 in the Journal of Economic Literature. It seeks to be the definitive work on this increasing global phenomenon and does provide excellent coverage of most of the theoretical, empirical and policy issues associated with it. While it is indeed a truly international survey, many of the in-depth studies and examples come from the authors’ home countries. Also, a substantial portion of the references are from German language publications, including a few that were originally written and published in English but are listed under German titles. However, by and large, the coverage of sources and issues is reasonably comprehensive. To the extent that there are real problems in this area they are connected to a more serious issue, an ideological bias against taxes that in places distorts the discussion and the analysis, a matter we shall discuss further later in this review