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The Integrated Midcontinent Stacked Carbon Storage Hub (IMSCS-HUB) is a first of a kind carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) project in the midwestern United States. The project is supported under the US Department of Energy’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) program. The IMSCS-HUB will collect 15 million metric tonnes (MT) per year or more in Iowa and Nebraska and transport it to saline and CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR) storage sites in western Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. Sources include multiple ethanol plants (approximately 1.8 MT/Year), coal fired electric plants (approximately 12.6 MT/Year), and natural gas fired electric plants (approximately 0.6 MT/Year). The passage of an updated tax credit for storage in February 2018 provides a strong economic driver for all of the sources in the hub to develop a hub project. The tax credit provides approximately $50/T for CO2 stored in saline storage units and $35/T for CO2 stored as part of CO2-EOR production. In addition, the inclusion of many bio-energy sources such as ethanol plants allows for early implementation of the project by taking advantage of inexpensive capture ($10/MT to $12/MT) and subsidies from California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program. Capture cost estimates for the electric utilities is approximately $33/MT. Transport costs range from $0.6/MT to $5.40/MT. Storage costs range from $3/MT to $4/MT. The hub partners include Battelle, Advanced Resources International, Archer Daniels Midland, Nebraska Public Power District, and others. The region of the project stretching from eastern Iowa to southwestern Nebraska acts as a source corridor, where sources add CO2 to the transport network. The transportation network will consist of a common carrier trunk line designed to connect the largest sources. Smaller sources will be connected through spur lines. The final routing will be selected using the location of existing rights away and environmental factors such as resource locations the critical species habitats. SimCCS and other tools will be used to finalize the routes. The region of the project from southwestern Nebraska to southwest Kansas in a storage corridor where CO2 may be stored in either saline projects or CO2-EOR projects. South of Kansas the CO2 will be transported to Texas for utilization in CO2-EOR. Two saline storage sites and two EOR opportunities have been identified as anchor projects for the storage corridor. The anchor sites are at the northern and southern sides of the storage corridor and will act to validate the storage potential of the entire corridor. In Nebraska saline storage is being planned in Perkins county and CO2-EOR is being studied at Sleepy Hollow Field in Red Willow county. In Kansas, saline storage and CO2- EOR are being planned for Patterson-Heinitz-Hartland (Patterson) Field in Kearney County. Multiple storage formations occur vertically at each site allowing for stacked storage minimizing the surface footprint for monitoring and maximizes the use of storage resources at each site. Data from new tests wells or seismic surveys for each of the sites has been used to create detailed geologic and reservoir models. Modeling for each of the anchor saline sites indicates at least a 50 million tonne storage capacity. The CO2-EOR projects are expected to utilize 2.2 MT and 3.9 MT of CO2 and produce 4.3 and 9.8 million barrels of oil for Sleepy Hollow and Patterson Fields, respectively. The inclusion of CO2-EOR along with saline storage adds an additional economic driver for the project with an estimated revenue of $128/MT and $154/MT of CO2 utilized. The results of the first two phases of the project demonstrate the feasibility of the midcontinent hub concept that couples a diverse set of redundant sources to multiple saline and CO2-EOR projects. The results show that the economics and geology are favorable for early implementation of commercial scale CCUS. The existence of low carbon fuel standard subsidies, storage tax credits, and revenue from produced oil act as economic drivers to support the hub in addition to the climate benefit gained by storing CO2 the hub supports local agriculture and oil production helping to create public support. This presentation will discuss the project development and project economics and how they relate to both stacked saline storage and CO2-EOR in the development of a storage hub. The development of a hub project allows the transport of CO2 from areas such as Iowa that have poor storage potential to areas such as western Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas that have high storage potential. This is critical to the implementation of CCUS in the midcontinent US. The presentation will also discuss the advantage of including redundant sources and sinks to develop a CO2 market that can sustain itself as a commercial enterprise after government funding ends.

This paper examines the impact of competition on the investment behavior and outcomes of venture capital (VC) firms with differing reputations. Following the introduction of investor tax credit programs that increase competition, reputable VCs decrease the number and size of their investments. The results are more pronounced in states with lower investment requirements and lower VC supply. Reputable VCs also reduce their syndicate size and shrink the time between financing rounds. They become less likely to partner with serial founders and their performance deteriorates. Our results suggest that increasing competition depresses returns for reputable VCs, hurting their incentive to invest.

Governments worldwide have spent billions of dollars on monetary incentives for consumers, such as tax credits, to encourage the adoption of eco-friendly (“green”) products. However, there is little consensus regarding the effectiveness of tax credit incentives in increasing green product adoption and reducing carbon emissions. The literature is also limited on the mechanisms through which monetary incentives work in general. We address these issues by studying the impact of tax credit incentives on green and non-green vehicle sales in the U.S. auto industry. A tax credit incentive could boost green vehicle sales through cost savings on the vehicle’s price. However, the incentive may prove ineffective due to important barriers to adoption (e.g., long charging times for electric cars). To measure the sales and emissions impacts of tax credit incentives, we study incentive changes across 46 counties in South Carolina and Oregon via various quasi-experimental approaches. Unlike recent studies showing an insignificant or a negative correlation between tax credits and electric vehicle (EV) adoption, our analyses show that unit sales of incentivized plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles–PHEVs–increase by an average of 3.7% (up to 52.7% in some counties) following a $2,000 incentive. In contrast, PHEV sales remain unchanged after the incentive’s termination, implying a positive net sales effect. We also explore the underlying mechanisms for the incentive’s impact by examining various purchase funnel stages. In the awareness stage, the incentive’s positive effect on PHEV demand peaks during the consumers’ tax-filing period; in the consideration stage, our analyses of online consumer search indicate that the incentive does not expand the consumer pool considering PHEVs. As for the conversion stage, the incentive generates more sales for PHEVs in counties where 1) consumers are more likely to have PHEVs in their consideration sets regardless of the incentive (i.e., Democratic counties), and 2) consumers value cost-saving more (i.e., counties with lower-middle income). Also, the heightened demand for PHEVs following the incentive stems from the substitution from gasoline vehicles with high fuel efficiency. We estimate the average cost of reducing carbon emissions through tax credits to be $96 per ton, which is less expensive than tax rebates for conventional hybrids and subsidies for residential solar panels.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp global economic decline. The U.S. government responded to the downturn with record fiscal legislation totaling over $5 trillion, which includes considerable tax relief. Most notably, the U.S. government distributed over $800 billion in three rounds of advanced refundable tax credits (known as recovery rebates, or stimulus checks) to most households. Tax relief has been unprecedented in scale but has often been the product of political circumstances rather than theorized conception. Tax relief thus remains largely undertheorized and politically motivated. This Article examines the U.S. tax policy response to the COVID-19 crisis, focusing on recovery rebates for individuals. It evaluates considerations for reforming tax relief and proposes several changes for future crises. First, the Article recommends targeting credits towards low-income households. This should be accomplished by decreasing phase out thresholds and increasing credit amounts. Second, the Article recommends targeting credits towards households which lost income or whose income did not substantially increase. This should be accomplished by implementing a recapture (repayment) requirement at the end of the tax year from households whose income increased beyond the phase out threshold, subject to a safe harbor. These proposals increase vertical equity and effectiveness, allow increased aid to those who suffered the most and enhance economic stimulus. Additionally, the Article explores arguments for universal benefits and recurring payments. It thereby examines the widely publicized debate on fiscal response to COVID-19 and suggests meaningful improvements to tax policy response for future crises.

This paper analyzes the effects of an income tax credit on evasion of the value-added tax (VAT). Based on the individual tax returns of the universe of VAT payers in Germany our analysis shows that harnessing incentives of consumers as third-parties in the last VAT stage through tax credits fosters firms' compliance with VAT. Our results point at strong stimulating effects of the introduction of the tax credit on reported sales as well as on the ratio of output to input taxes. However, only about half of the increase in reported sales can be ascribed to a decline in tax evasion. Based on our results, the response at the VAT evasion margin alone is not fully sufficient to recover the revenue losses associated with the tax credit. But when taking into account the formalization effects in social security contributions, the increase in net-revenues is likely.

Supporting new, high impact energy and environmentally friendly initiatives has been a regular and important component of US tax policy. A production tax credit (PTC) of up to 2.3 cents per kWh (now reduced) was available for electricity generated by wind. Solar photovoltaic projects receive a 30% investment tax credit (ITC). These tax credits, along with state-level renewable performance standards, have significantly increased investments in renewables and supported their growth in the electricity generation sector. A similar opportunity now exists for supporting accelerated installation of large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the US electric power generation industry. Section 45Q of the US tax code represents a first, but still insufficient, step for covering the costs of using CCS with electric power generation. It provides a $50 per metric ton (mt) tax credit for captured CO2 stored in geological formations and a $35 per mt tax credit for captured CO2 used and stored with enhanced oil recovery. However, the 45Q tax credits contain limitations, including-- a rapidly approaching “commence construction” deadline, limited years for claiming the tax credit, a tax credit level insufficient for economically viable installation of CCS by natural gas-fueled power plants, and little support for first-of-a-kind (FOAK), higher CO2 capture rate facilities. In a previous paper (Esposito, et al., 2019), the authors illustrated the basic arithmetic for assessing the economic viability of CCS in the electric power generation industry with availability of the Section 45Q tax credits, including an extensive look at the business case for installing CCS by coal-fueled power plants. This paper discusses a series of modifications to the Section 45Q tax credit, as well as additional steps, that would improve the business case for installing CCS on natural gas-fueled power plants. The paper addresses the following topics: • Extending the Commence Construction Date for the Section 45Q Tax Credit. Given a fast-approaching deadline, the paper provides a series of arguments for extending the “commence construction” date for eligibility for the Section 45Q tax credit. • Increasing the Time Period for Eligibility for the Section 45Q Tax Credit. The paper examines how the business case for CCS would be improved by increasing the time of eligibility for the Section 45Q tax credit to 20 years from the current 12 years. • Increasing the Value of the Tax Credit for Natural Gas-Fueled Power Generation. The overall CO2 capture costs at a natural gas-fueled plant are about 60% as much as at an equivalent generation capacity coal-fueled power plant. However, the volume of CO2 produced from a natural gas-fueled power plant is about 40% as much as from a coal-fueled plant. As such, the per-ton costs of capturing CO2 at a natural gas power plant are 1.5 times higher than the per-ton costs of capturing CO2 at a coal-fueled power plant. Since the Section 45Q tax credit rate was designed to approximately cover the cost of CO2 capture at a coal-fueled power plant, it needs to be increased by about 50% to cover the cost of CO2 capture at a natural gas-fueled power plant. • Providing Incentives for Higher Capture Rate, FOAK Plants. The paper also examines how a more robust set of incentives, including modified Section 45Q tax credits and other options, could help overcome the barriers facing first-of-a-kind (FOAK), high (95%+) CO2 capture rate plants. • Providing Section 48A Investment Tax Credits for Natural Gas-Fueled Power Plants. The paper examines how expansion of the eligibility for the Section 48A investment tax credit could support installation of CCS at natural gas-fueled power plants.

There have been recent calls to loosen will formalities in order to allow more people to execute wills, the importance of which has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction of necessary will formalities can be successful in expanding the use of wills, as can potential tax incentives for creation of wills, such as a tax credit. However, there are numerous advantages to using tax to initiate change, as considered in this Article.

Place-based tax incentives, such as the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and Opportunity Zones incentives, are often used to promote investment in low-income neighborhoods. However, not all low-income neighborhoods have an equal need for investment subsidies. Subsidies for investment in already gentrifying neighborhoods, for example, may reflect inefficient inframarginal investment, and they may lead to inequitable outcomes. Critics fear that when gentrifying neighborhoods are eligible for tax incentives, they will draw investment away from the neighborhoods that need it most. However, few studies have provided empirical analysis to assess whether these concerns have merit. Through a novel geospatial analysis of the location patterns of tax-subsidized projects, this Article provides new evidence that critics’ concerns are justified. This Article analyzes 15 years of NMTC data to explore the location patterns of tax-subsidized projects in 20 U.S. cities. It employs two spatial analysis methods, quadrat density analysis and negative binomial regression analysis, to describe the location patterns of NMTC projects and their relationship to two variables known to correlate with gentrification: high vacancy rates and increasing rental rates. The quadrat density analysis reveals that, in most cities, NMTC project density is highest in eligible census tracts that had high vacancy rates, increasing rents, or both. The results of the negative binomial regression analysis confirmed that, in many cities, high vacancy rates or rent increases were statistically significant predictors of NMTC investment. Together, these results provide new evidence that gentrifying census tracts may draw tax-subsidized investment away from other eligible areas. They also suggest that a commonly proposed Opportunity Zones reform—to add statutory safeguards modeled after those in the NMTC—would fail to prevent tax-subsidized investment in places that are already gentrifying. The observed spatial patterns reflect inefficient allocations, limit the NMTC program’s ability to promote equitable change, and cast doubt about whether federal regulators can effectively shape program outcomes. Opportunity Zones are likely to have similarly inefficient and inequitable outcomes. Therefore, this Article argues that statutory and administrative reforms are necessary to reduce the frequency at which tax incentives are used to subsidize investment in neighborhoods that are already gentrifying. This study has profound implications for the $5 billion per year federal NMTC program, the $3.5 billion per year federal Opportunity Zones program, and state-level tax incentives modeled after these federal tax laws.

Increasing workplace diversity is a key component of the social pillar of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities. In this study, we use financial statement disclosures to identify firms that claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), a federal tax program that incentivizes businesses to hire underrepresented workers, thereby increasing workplace diversity. Consistent with companies claiming the WOTC when the economic benefits outweigh the costs, we find participation is more likely for companies that rely on lower-wage labor, are profitable, and are headquartered in states with WOTC-type tax incentives. Next, motivated by increased demand for corporate-level ESG activities, we examine the outcomes of WOTC disclosure. Relative to a matched control sample, firms disclosing WOTC participation receive higher ESG ratings on social issues and are more likely to be owned by socially responsible investment funds. Consistent with increased investor demand for firms engaged in ESG activities, we find WOTC disclosure is positively associated with stock liquidity. However, we find no association with firm value. Our findings provide relevant insights to legislators as they modify the WOTC and to companies evaluating the potential ESG benefits of WOTC participation and disclosure.

The supply of injectable drugs is subject to frequent disruptions. Injectables comprise nearly 80% of all medicines that have experienced shortages during consecutive years. Inadequate capacity resulting from manufacturing quality glitches is a common reason for such shortages. Still, the capacity decisions of competing suppliers, and their impact on the drug supply remains mostly unexplored. To address this issue, we consider two firms selling partially substitutable drugs to a common market. The firms may invest in a combination of reliable and unreliable capacity, where the latter is cheaper but prone to disruption. Each firm's disruption is private information and firms make early and late production decisions that occur before and after learning about the rival's disruptions respectively. We investigate the impact of sharing disruption information on the equilibrium choice of capacities. As expected, the firms benefit from information sharing because it allows them to utilize their excess capacity more efficiently. However, somewhat surprisingly, such information sharing leads to reduced investment in the reliable capacity, which in turn results in lower supply when both firms are disrupted. We propose investment tax credits on capacity additions as a potential mitigation strategy. We find that offering tax credits can not only mitigate the detrimental effect of information sharing but also boost up overall supply. Finally, motivated by the emergence of COVID-19, we investigate the supply chain's resiliency against unforeseen demand surges.

Hungarian Abstract: Jelen dolgozat arra a kerdesre keres valaszt, hogy a tarsasagi ado torvenyben leirt felteteleknek megfelelő adoalap- es adokedvezmenyek igenybevetelet mennyiben korlatozzak az unios allami tamogatas szabalyok. A dolgozat első reszeben attekintjuk az allami tamogatasok fogalmat es rendszeret, a masodik reszeben pedig a főbb tarsasagi adoalap-, es adokedvezmenyeket csoportositjuk az allami tamogatasok szabalyai menten. Az egyeb adointezkedesek, illetve a birosagi eljaras soran allami tamogatasnak minősitett adointezkedesek a jelen dolgozat keretein kivul esnek English Abstract: The paper investigates whether and how much the utilization of taxable base incentives and tax credits granted by the corporate income tax law is limited by the state aid nature of the tax measures. The first part of the essay describes the most important attributes of state aid, and the European Union state aid system. In the second part corporate tax base incentives and tax credits will be explained from the point of their state aid character. Other tax measures and state aid related tax cases fall outside the scope of this paper.

In previous publications/presentations at GHGT-13, a plan was outlined for the capture and storage/utilization of CO2 within the state of Illinois. This plan has evolved significantly due to a number of technical, regulatory, and financial factors that have occurred at both the state and federal level. A combination of successful implementation of large-scale storage projects, significant investment in research and development by the US DOE, and the advent of 45Q tax credits has created a significant driver for growth in Illinois for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects. This ability to either store or utilize the CO2 creates diverse financial opportunities for CO2 sources within the state, hence an ability to build new markets and drivers for large CO2 emitters within the state. A major cornerstone of this effort is to have a range of capture sites in the state that can accommodate the evaluation of capture technologies that are at various levels of maturity (i.e., technology readiness levels or TRLs). The net impact is an ability to assist Illinois in achieving its goals for grid decarbonization and clean energy job creation.

The Opportunity Zone (OZ) tax incentive to invest in economically distressed areas across the United States was introduced in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This Article examines the Ogden Commons project, a mixed-use development in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood, as a case study for OZ investments. Ogden Commons represents an appropriate implementation of the OZ incentive, but its successes also demonstrate the program’s shortfalls. For example, unlike other federal economic development programs such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), OZ investors have few restrictions with regards to the projects they invest in. This much touted great flexibility for the OZ investments comes at the expense of little oversight. This lack of oversight is only ameliorated when OZ projects include funds from other federal, state, or local programs in their capital stack as the Ogden Commons project has done. It is only because of these other programs’ requirements that projects must conduct responsive community needs assessments and surveys, which-- for a program aimed at addressing distressed areas-- should have been required for OZ projects from the start. Furthermore, the developer is using both qualified opportunity funds and LIHTCs to finance the different phases of the Ogden Commons project allowing for the comparison of these very different tax incentives. While the Ogden Commons project demonstrates a positive use of the OZ incentive, the tax incentive needs serious reforms to ensure that the OZ program will actually achieve its objective and justify the massive taxpayer dollars being spent on the initiative.

The tax and budget reconciliation process could be used to substantially expand health insurance coverage and improve health insurance outcomes. Potential health-related items, which could be included in a tax and reconciliation bill, include expansions in Medicaid eligibility and federal Medicaid funding, new tax credits for subsidies of state exchange insurance by small businesses for employees, tax credits for contributions to health savings accounts, and additional risk-adjustment subsidies for complex health care cases. These health-related tax and budget provisions would alleviate economic turmoil and hardships associated with the COVID pandemic. Moreover, these provisions are, if structured properly, likely to satisfy the constraints of the Byrd rule defining eligibility for inclusion in a reconciliation bill.

Despite the potential economic efficiency and political economy benefits of revenue-neutrality, a deeper question remains about the feasibility of revenue-neutrality in practice. Revenue-neutrality is relatively simple to implement in an economic model, as counterfactuals are clearly defined. However, it is less clear in practice when a government actually implements a carbon tax what income tax or transfer levels would have been if the carbon tax had not been implemented. This paper aims to provide some perspective on this issue by presenting two examples of carbon taxes and revenue recycling implemented in Canada: the British Columbia revenue-neutral carbon tax (a carbon tax with offsetting tax cuts) and the Canadian federal government’s Fuel Charge and Climate Action incentive refundable tax credit (a carbon tax and dividend). Is revenue-neutrality possible in a practical sense with either of these types of policies, or is it at best a marketing gimmick to help sell carbon taxes to voters?

Cement industry plays a crucial role in the development of an economy. It contributes significantly to the GDP and generates employment. Growing population, increasing scale of economic activities, and growth in the real estate sector have led to a boom in Indian cement industry. Various infrastructural development initiatives of Central and State Government also stimulated demand for cement. Indian cement industry has enormous growth potential. It is attracting FDI through mergers and acquisitions. The synergic effect has resulted in technological advancements and production efficiency in cement industry. Despite of having huge growth potential, the growth of cement industry in India is not satisfactory due to various economic and other policy implications. A high rate of GST is one of the most important factor hindering the growth of cement industry. Cement is placed in the 28% tax slab of GST in India, which is higher than the other developing and developed countries. As individuals use more than 65 percent of cement for housing constuctions, a higher tax rate on cement will adversely affect the marginal sections of the society. Non-availability of Input tax credit (ITC) in construction and real estate sector also a negative impact on the growth of and real estate and cement Industry. GST being a consumption-based tax, the entire tax burden is on end-users. Considering all the factors an attempt is made in this study to analyze the impact of GST on the Cement Industry. It is found that growth in production, consumption, sales and FDI inflows is not satisfactory in Indian cement industry after GST implementation.

This front-end engineering and design (FEED) study is for a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture system for Unit #2 (816 MW) at the Prairie State Generating Company’s (PSGC) Energy Campus in Marissa, IL. The capture technology used is the Advanced KM CDR Process™ from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The project will be the largest post-combustion capture plant in the world. In addition, it will incorporate advancements in the technology including lessons learned from past projects and a new proprietary solvent. The overall business model being developed by PSGC focuses on the generation of 45Q tax credits as a result of sequestering the captured CO2. Because the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) within the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) leads both this capture effort and the storage effort, there is close coordination and integration between the capture and storage efforts. This integration is vital to achieving the desired business targets for the project.

This article comments on the recent economic impact report (Meek Report) commissioned by Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) on the economic impact of the film industry in Georgia. • Following the charge of the GDEcD, the Meek Report examines only the benefits of the film industry and does not consider the costs of the state’s film tax credit program. The state has issued nearly $5 billion in film tax credits since 2008, and it approved $860 million in film tax credits during FY 2019. The annual amount of forgone tax revenue represents approximately three percent of the state-funded budget or $230 dollars per Georgia household. • Though the Meek Report acknowledges the existence of the strong body of research on film incentives and economic growth, it does not report the consensus findings of existing studies, which do not support the hypothesis that film incentives have a net positive impact on state economies. • Rather than use available records of direct spending on film production from state government agencies, the Meek Report concocts an estimate of direct spending using a dubious method that is not adequately described, nor does it appear to be sound. The estimated direct spending estimate is inconsistent with other available measures and is not credible. • The Meek Report uses an excessive multiplier to estimate indirect and induced effects from film production spending. The origins of the multiplier are not explained, and when combined with the excessive direct spending estimate, it inflates total economic impact well above its likely impact. • Film employment can provide a misleading representation of the industry’s impact on the Georgia economy. Recent growth in film industry jobs likely reflects a shift from full-time to part-time workers. • Using the Meek Report’s estimate of film industry jobs, the cost of film tax credits is $49,000 per job, (full-time and part-time). When GDEcD film employment data is adjusted for full-time equivalency (FTE), the cost is $110,000 per FTE job. • The Meek Report highlights that the average wage for film jobs exceeds the average wage of the state. The comparison of averages is misleading, because the mean is skewed upwards by the exceptional salaries of a few actors, directors, etc. who are not representative of typical Georgia film workers. The median wage of US film workers equates to $39,000 (FTE), which is below the median wage of $48,000 of all jobs. Typical film workers do not earn high wages. • The methods and data described in the Meek Report do not support its claims that the film industry is responsible for $8.6 billion in output or 51,000 jobs. Available records of direct film production spending combined with reasonable multipliers results in an estimated economic impact of Georgia’s film industry of between $3.4 and $5 billion in total output and around 30,000 total jobs. • Direct film spending represents close to $3 billion of Georgia’s economy, which is approximately 1/200th of the state’s $600 billion economy. While film production in Georgia may exceed other states, contrary to popular perception, the film industry is not a major driver of economic output or jobs in the state.

As part of its response to Covid-19 the government paused the use of the ‘Minimum Income Floor’ (MIF), which restricts the Universal Credit (UC) entitlement of the self-employed. This paper places the MIF in the wider context of conditionality in the social security system and considers a judicial review which claimed that the MIF was discriminatory. The paper focuses on how UC affects the availability of real choices for low-income citizens to limit or escape from wage labour, with two implications of the move to UC highlighted. First, the overlooked labour decommodifying aspect of tax credits, which provided a minimum income guarantee and a genuine alternative to wage labour for people who self-designated as ‘self-employed’, even if their earnings were minimal or non-existent, has been removed. Secondly, UC has in some respects improved the position of low-paid wage labourers in ‘mini-jobs’, who are not subject to conditionality once they work for the equivalent of approximately nine hours a week on the minimum wage.

As America enters the new decade, we enter a period of significant change. With the unexpected rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans are now questioning the current system and are looking for positive change. Politicians and policymakers need to seize this opportunity to protect Americans in ways past administrations have failed. One of those changes needs to be a proactive policy that combats climate change and shifts the American economy and the American public away from fossil fuels. This Note suggests that new system will be a collection of tax policies that incentivize a shift toward renewable energy and tax breaks for the formation and expansion of renewable energy businesses, as well as penalties that trigger Americans to change the way they think about how they consume fuel.

Several aspects of U.S. health insurance reform efforts including -- (1) the individual mandate, (2) the premium tax credit, (3) cost sharing, (4) limited provider networks, (5) short-term health plans, and (6) public options are reviewed and discussed. Policy recommendations to improve health insurance outcomes are presented. The goal of this exercise is the development of new health insurance policies, which achieve multiple sometimes competing objectives.

I examine the association between tax avoidance and tax director turnover. Specifically, I hand collect the names of tax directors and explore whether tax directors face consequences from making certain tax avoidance decisions. This unique dataset allows me to examine the tax director, who is directly responsible for taxes, which are one of the most significant accounts, and who prior literature has largely ignored due to a lack of availability of data. I find evidence that the tax director is more likely to face consequences, as measured by turnover, when their firm’s effective tax rate is higher than the industry median’s effective tax rate and when the effective tax rate is volatile. Accordingly, these results provide an understanding of the consequences of tax directors’ tax avoidance decisions. In supplemental analysis, I examine samples of firms that engaged in aggressive tax avoidance, had tax-related restatements and had tax-related internal control weaknesses. I do not find evidence that tax directors face consequences, as measured by turnover, compared to a set of matched tax directors for any of the supplemental tests. Overall, these findings suggest that tax directors face consequences related to middle range tax avoidance decisions but do not face consequences from very aggressive tax avoidance and GAAP-related tax decisions.

Florida’s unique tax structure, revenue sources, and diverse environment provide an opportunity to address sea-level rise through the lens of the highest carbon emitters: electric utility companies. The proposed solutions include: [1] a gradual increase in taxes and fees on some aspects of Florida electric utility companies, [2] offering tax credits and subsidies for transitioning to more environmentally-friendly power-generation, and [3] reforming electric utility regulations as an incentive to adopt a more climate-conscious, public welfare approach — all while maintaining a profit-making structure that can both maintain revenue and reduce the impact of sea level rise in Florida. An analysis of three potential solutions indicates that the case for carbon dioxide mitigation initiatives is strong and able to yield significant revenue over time, while simultaneously contributing to the overall reduction in emissions to help reduce the impact of sea level rise in Florida and beyond.

We examine the role of withholding taxes on foreign portfolio in-vestment (FPI) and compliance frictions in obtaining foreign tax cred-its using data on bilateral FPI around the globe and on U.S. institu-tional investor’s foreign holdings. Exploiting variation in withholding tax rates for 36 investor countries and 110 issuer countries from 2008 to 2015, we find that, conversely to the intended design of the interna-tional tax system, withholding taxes adversely affect FPI because of high compliance costs to international investors in claiming foreign tax credits.

Corporations are consistently finding themselves at the forefront of social conversations as corporate boycotts and corporate social responsibility methods are becoming more ubiquitous in society. There has never been a better example of this than the entertainment industry’s response to Georgia’s LIFE Act, known colloquially as The Heartbeat Bill, which aimed to limit a woman’s access to an abortion once a fetal heartbeat could be detected. The Government of the State of Georgia offers the United States’ most expansive, sweeping, and beneficial tax credits to entertainment corporations and production companies that choose to film projects in-state. After public outcry in response to the introduction of that legislation, the entertainment corporations that benefit from Georgia’s tax incentives were forced to reckon with a moral and business dilemma: whether to remain in Georgia and continue to collect the financial benefits of filming in the state or to leave the state altogether out of support and solidarity with the women that the Government was seeking to control. This Article proposes to answer that dilemma through different legal perspectives including the dissection of Georgia’s tax incentives, an historical outlining of various boycotts of similar magnitude, and a feminist legal theory perspective. While boycotts can be an effective tool for change, in this case, entertainment corporations should continue to do business with the state and use the benefit of the Georgia tax incentives and remaining in Georgia to benefit local woman. To help the women of Georgia, these corporations should create or donate to pro-women organizations that help women in need of healthcare, child care, and employment, assist with voter registration, and combat widespread voter suppression. By remaining in Georgia, these corporations can thus fulfill their obligations to their shareholders while also participating in a positive and progressive social movement. Sometimes the most effective way to be an ally to women is to fight on the ground and in the trenches, so to speak, alongside them. In leaving the state, entertainment corporations are doing the exact opposite of what their intended actions are and, ultimately, are leaving the women of Georgia vulnerable.

CCUS technologies are essential for meeting global temperature targets because of their ability to decarbonize hard to abate sectors and provide negative emissions when paired with bioenergy. In the power sector the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) foresees an average global CCUS build rate of 16 GW/year from 2020 to 2040. However, current deployment rates languish far below this level, as there are currently only two operational power CCUS plants with a combined capacity of 355 MW. Both are retrofitted coal plants, but most future climate models require a diverse CCUS portfolio consisting of coal/gas CCUS plants, bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and using CCUS in a hydrogen power generation chain. This study is commissioned by IEAGHG and aims to understand the evolving future roles of different CCUS technologies in various power markets and policy measures which can overcome current barriers to deployment. The UK, USA, People’s Republic of China (China) and Australia are selected as model power markets as they represent some of the leading countries in the CCUS space. First, a techno-economic analysis is undertaken which compares the economic feasibility of CCUS options with counterfactual technologies (nuclear, unabated gas/coal, battery storage) under different operational modes (baseload, mid-merit, peaking generation) for each country. Later, a literature review is undertaken to determine policy recommendations which may overcome deployment barriers for post-combustion CCUS, BECCS, power generation through hydrogen, CCUS retrofits and flexible CCUS operations. Finally, the existing CCUS policy support in each of the four countries is reviewed along with region specific recommendations to make CCUS technologies more viable in each country. It is found that globally BECCS, gas CCUS and hydrogen are viable options for baseload, mid-merit and peaking generation, respectively. Hydrogen power generation is the lowest cost low-carbon option for flexible backup generation for sustained periods (>8 hours) of high demand, complimenting batteries which are cheaper for shorter periods. However, peaking hydrogen would require a higher support mechanism in the USA and Australia compared to other regions due to relatively more expensive hydrogen costs. Gas CCUS is likely to be one of the most economic mid-merit and baseload technologies, even in regions without domestic gas resources due to its lower costs than alternatives. BECCS is expected to be a strategic technology for climate targets due to the associated negative emissions, thus it is expected to be deployed in all regions to a certain extent, even if it is not the lowest-cost CCUS option. China is the only region where coal CCUS is competitive with other CCUS technologies at high load factors and hydrogen power is very cost-effective irrespective of operational mode. The two main reasons for this divergent result for China are the low-cost domestic coal availability and the opportunity for cheap hydrogen production through coal gasification with CCS. Economic constraints relating to high upfront capital investment requirement and lack of mechanisms to recover high operational expenses are found to be the two major barriers to CCUS deployment. Capital challenges can be alleviated by tax credits, public procurement, grants, concessional loans, direct equity investment, progressive financing, international financing institutions and export credit agencies. Operational expenses can be addressed through policies such as feed-in-tariffs, contract for differences, emission performance standards, CCUS obligations with tradable CCUS certificates or additional revenues from CO2 utilization. Each country is likely to use some combination of these policies to incentivize capture plants, while the transport & storage part of the supply chain may be handled by dedicated companies that are publicly owned or supported through regulated models. The above measures must be supplemented by specific policies that focus on different CCUS applications. Retrofits would benefit from imposing retrofit readiness criteria to all new plants, while BECCS would require recognition of negative emissions and establishing strong biomass sustainability criteria. Developing appropriate business models for the low-carbon hydrogen supply-chain would be vital for deploying hydrogen power. Lastly, flexible CCUS is extremely understudied for policy purposes and new policies, such as flexible contract for differences, must be developed and tested to encourage peaking plant operation. The four countries studied have varying levels of regulatory and policy support for CCUS, but all must improve their financial incentives through adopting some of the measures proposed above. Regulatory improvements, such as fossil fuel phase-out plans, CCUS readiness requirements and limiting post-closure liabilities of CO2 storage companies are some of the common recommendations for each country. Additionally, each country may improve on their existing schemes, policies and use their existing financial institutions more efficiently to incentivize mass deployment of CCUS technologies at levels consistent with global climate models.

Housing instability threatens to impair the United States’ policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic by undermining public health strategies such as social dista

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is the largest supply-side housing subsidy in the United States, costing over $8 billion per year. LIHTC properties tend to be concentrated in low-income urban communities. Numerous studies have examined the spillover effects of these properties but have not accounted for their clustering or teased out the effects of introducing additional LIHTC developments to neighborhoods. We combine an interrupted time series model with a difference-in-difference approach to estimate the additive property value effects in Chicago and surrounding Cook County, Illinois. The development of subsequent LIHTC properties within a neighborhood augments the positive effects of the initial property as far as half a mile away, in both low-income and higher-income areas. The effects are most pronounced in neighborhoods with low median incomes.

Every living being is doomed to decay and die and decay some more. Death is inevitable, and the disposal of our dead is a fundamental global activity with the potential to have significant environmental impact. In the United States, the environmental toxicity of “traditional” modern burial is stark. A cosmeticized body is pumped with three gallons of embalming fluid (containing chemicals such as formaldehyde) that eventually leaches through metal and wood and into the ground. An estimated 5.3 million gallons of embalming chemicals are buried annually in what are essentially luxury landfill-slash-golf-courses, with landscaping and grass to maintain and mow, in coffins that are typically constructed of nonbiodegradable chipboard. And while cremation is a more environmentally friendly alternative, incineration cremation falls short of being labeled “green.” Fire-based cremation utilizes significant resources and energy, attributable to the substantial quantity of fossil fuel required to burn human remains at 1,562° F (850° C) to reduce a corpse to ash. Pollutants are generated in doing so, including an average of 250,000 tons per year of carbon emissions and an estimated 320 to 6,000 pounds of mercury (from incineration of dental fillings) per year. This tradition-steeped industry has projected domestic annual revenues of $68 billion (by 2023) and, interestingly, the industry has slowly started to “go green.” Changing the way in which one is buried will not solve the problem of climate change, but it does respect the notion that one’s last act on earth should not be to harm it. Industry norms are on the brink of disruption: the alt-death or death positive movement seeks to infuse the human experience back into death; there is capital investment into new innovative death service technologies, e.g. Funeralocity, WeCroak; and green death care tech startups are dramatically broadening available options for reintegrating human remains back into the environment in an eco-friendly manner. Unfortunately, a myriad of market failures and obstacles are impeding that disruption. This Article explores our modern disconnection from death, the transitioning of human remains in an environmentally friendly manner, the importance of pre-need or pre-death planning and prepayment to protect the grieving consumer, and the way in which tax incentives may be utilized to weave these ideas together in a cohesive plan for a green tax credit. A Pigouvian subsidy is proposed in the form of a refundable tax credit for qualified expenditures related to the nonrefundable prepayment of expenses arising from “sustainable disposition or transition of human remains.”

Do the details of the structure of the tax code matter? Which of the elementary components of a modern and complex tax code is most important for households? This paper explores these issues within the framework of an overlapping generation model with heterogeneous agents and with specific reference to the case of Italy. Risk averse agents in the model are exposed to lifespan uncertainty, borrowing constraints, and uninsurable wage shocks. In this framework, the tax code plays an important role as a source of publicly-provided insurance against unlucky realizations of incomes. In particular, while many features of the tax code are instrumental in shaping its ability to redistribute income across agents, this paper finds that a new-born agent would attach a significant welfare value to the existing tax credit for employees’ earned income. This provision of Italian personal income tax significantly lowers the tax burdens on agents hit by negative productivity shocks and thus plays a crucial role in limiting the dispersion of realized net incomes and consumption.

In 2019, for the first time in the history of U.S. capital markets, passive funds surpassed active funds in terms of total assets under management. The continuous growth of passive funds at the expense of active funds is a genuine cause for concern. Active funds monitor the management and partake of decision-making in their portfolio companies. Furthermore, they improve price efficiency and managerial performance by engaging in informed trading. The buy/sell decisions of active funds provide other market participants reliable information about the quality of firms. The cost of active investing is significant and it is exclusively borne by active funds; the benefits, by contrast, are spread over all shareholders, including passive funds that free-ride on the efforts of their active peers. Therefore, the contraction of active funds threatens to set back the quality of corporate governance in U.S. firms. This Essay proposes a way to reverse this trend. To preserve the benefits presented by active funds, we explore the possibility of employing tax mechanisms to help defray the extra cost borne by active funds. Perversely, at present, our tax laws exacerbate the problem. Since active funds trade more frequently than passive ones, they face a substantially heavier tax burden. We argue that taxation is the key to leveling the playing field in capital markets.Specifically, we establish a prima facie case for using tax credits to support active funds and enhance their market share. We focus on two types of tax credits: effort-based tax credits and result-based tax credits. Effort-based tax credits would be granted whenever an active fund undertakes prespecified measures to improve corporate governance irrespective of their success. Result-based tax credits would be contingent on the attainment of certain outcomes. The two types are not mutually exclusive and, as we will show, can be combined for maximal effect. Our proposal has three potential advantages over competing initiatives that seek to induce passive funds to become more active. First, taxes constitute a highly effective tool for altering behavior as they transform the underlying motivations of the subject. Second, our proposal has the potential to create a virtuous financial cycle: the expected increase in tax revenues from the improved performance of firms generated by the tax credit should cover the cost of providing the credits. Third, and finally, from a political economy standpoint, our proposal, on account of its noncoercive nature, will not attract opposition from the investment industry and thus stands a realistic chance of being adopted.

The universal EITC is a worker subsidy designed to offset wage stagnation. The base proposal would replace existing subsidies for working families with a refundable 100-percent tax credit on individual wages up to $10,000 and a larger, refundable CTC. The maximum credit grows with GDP, guaranteeing that low-wage workers benefit from economic growth. The credits are offset by a broad-based VAT or income surtax. The proposals are progressive: After-tax income for the bottom quintile would increase by about 25 percent. The tax burden on the top one percent would increase by 7 to 14 percent of income, depending on financing.

We incorporate fixed and variable costs into a cash flow based CAPM to investigate how each type of cost affects the cost of equity capital. A decrease in fixed costs always reduces cost of capital. With positive fixed costs, a decrease in the variable cost rate reduces cost of capital despite also increasing covariance risk. We then model income tax expense as containing both a fixed component (like a tax credit) and a variable component (a tax rate). Unlike other costs, the fixed tax component may be negative. Any decrease in the fixed tax component always reduces cost of capital. The effect of a decrease in the tax rate depends on the sign of the fixed tax component. With a negative fixed tax component, such as a tax credit, a decrease in the tax rate increases cost of capital. Results of empirical tests are generally consistent with our predictions.

The Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC), a tax credit based on taxpayers’ income and child care expenses, reduces families’ child care costs. The nonrefundable federal CDCC is available to working families with children younger than 13 years old in all states, and nearly half of states supplement the federal credit with their own child care credits. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act expanded the federal CDCC in 2003, which led to differential increases in CDCC generosity across states and family sizes. I document CDCC eligibility and expenditures over time and across income and demographic groups. Using data from the March Current Population Survey, I find that a 10 percent increase in CDCC benefits increases annual paid child care participation by 4–5 percent among households with children younger than 13 years old. I also find that CDCC benefits increase labor supply among married mothers. Increases in labor supply among married mothers with very young children suggest that CDCC benefits may generate long-run earnings gains.

We estimate the causal effects of job creation tax credits on employment using the exogenous spatial and time variations in the value of the credits across Georgia’s 159 counties over a 15-year period. We employ three empirical approaches: regression discontinuity design models making use of the sharp discontinuity in eligibility for credits of different value; difference-indifferences models using inter temporal and inter and intra-county changes in credit value, and; employment differences in bordering census tracts that qualify for different valued credits. We obtain mixed results, but in general they provide little evidence for the proposition that job creation tax credits create additional employment.

Prior literature suggests that firms may bear reputational costs associated with corporate tax avoidance, which could in turn reduce the net present value of firms’ tax planning strategies. Other research indicates that investors perceive corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and tax avoidance as inconsistent with each other when engaged in concurrently. However, these studies do not consider the fact that firms may have opportunities to avoid tax in socially responsible ways. We investigate the equity valuation implications of one form of socially responsible tax avoidance: claiming the renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC). We predict and find that investors more positively value tax savings generated from PTCs compared to other forms of corporate tax avoidance. Additionally, consistent with the role that CSR can play in enhancing a firm’s reputational capital, we find evidence of a spillover effect in which investors more positively value other sources of tax avoidance to the extent the firm also reduces its taxes in a socially responsible way.

As a complement to the federal EITC, some states offer their own EITC, typically calculated as a percentage of the federal EITC. In this paper, we analyze the effect of state EITC on education using policy discontinuities at U.S. state borders. Our estimates reveal that an increase in state EITC leads to a statistically significant drop in high school completion. We then use a life-cycle matching model with directed search and endogenous educational choices, search intensities, hirings, hours worked, and separations to investigate the effects of EITC on the labor market in the long run and along the transitional dynamics. We show that a tax credit targeted at low-wage (and low-skilled) workers reduces the relative return to schooling, thereby generating a powerful disincentive to pursue long-term studies. In the long run, this results in an increase in the proportion of low-skilled workers in the economy, which may have important implications in terms of employment, productivity, and income inequalities.

In this contribution, we focus on the market for stewardship, as this has been developing in the UK. We observe that the 2020 UK Stewardship Code more clearly than previous stewardship codes (both in the UK and elsewhere) articulates the concept of a market for stewardship. The UK Code 2020 now more openly than before takes into account the position of end-investors and beneficiaries. The hope is that stewardship will be delivered because those whose money is invested ask for it. We agree that stewardship does start with those who contribute the funds invested in the market. The focus on end-investors and beneficiaries is, however, not enough. As this paper explains, by limiting the analysis to these groups, the UK government overlooks the fact that it is itself a financial contributor to the market. A study commissioned by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) finds, for example, that 90% of the revenue of investment consultants and fiduciary managers derives from pensions. The government contributes to pension investments through the provision of tax credit. It is a significant financial investor in the market. Tax credit also deprives end-investors and beneficiaries of a financial incentive to oversee asset owners, asset managers and other service providers. We, therefore, suggest that the UK government should act as a steward in relation to its own investment and tailor tax credit to investments that are stewardship active.

This article considers government responses to unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyses the two main legislative responses adopted by North American governments: a broadening of access to (un)employment insurance (EI) and the adoption of payroll subsidies for companies. It comparatively and critically assesses these two solutions, to eventually propose an alternative plan. Under this plan, access to EI would be broadened to cover those not traditionally covered by it, such as self-employed workers, contract workers, and those caring for a family member sick from COVID-19 or for a child who is at home due to school and day-care closures. Unemployed workers who have traditionally paid into the EI system would be rewarded through a tax credit. To avoid incentivising temporary layoffs, a payroll subsidy would be adopted. The subsidy would make it as attractive to keep workers on payroll as to lay them off so they can benefit from EI. It would also provide a more faithful picture of unemployment rates during the crisis. The plan would also address broader concerns regarding the unsustainability of public spending during the crisis by limiting access to both temporary layoffs and the payroll subsidy. Large and profitable companies, as well as companies with high revenue or cash reserves, would not be able to temporarily lay their employees off during the crisis or benefit from the subsidy. For companies that face liquidity issues yet are not eligible for the subsidy, short-term, interest-bearing emergency loans would be available.

Portuguese Abstract: Este artigo tem a finalidade de analisar, ainda que de forma breve, os casos de responsabilidade tributaria de terceiros, e identificar como tem se comportado a jurisprudencia em relacao a forma de inclusao desses terceiros nas acoes exacionais para a cobranca do credito tributario. Em particular, o caso dos Grupos Economicos, para propor uma resposta ao tema posto, ou seja; qual deveria ser o veiculo processual adequado para incluir este terceiro, que nao e parte do processo originalmente, para que venha ele a responder (patrimonialmente), pelo credito tributario de cujo fato gerador nao praticou ou mesmo participou originalmente. English Abstract: This article aims to analyze the cases of third party tax liability and to identify how the jurisprudence is behaving in relation to the way these third parties are included in international actions to collect tax credits. In particular, the case of Economic Groups, in order to propose an answer to the theme, that is, what should be the appropriate procedural vehicle to include this third party, who originally was not part of the process, so that he is responsible (net worth), for the tax credit in which the taxable event did not practice or even originally participated.

Since the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, unemployment rates leapt to the highest they have been since 1975. Congress passed the CARES Act in March 2020, a $2 trillion relief package, offering augmented unemployment relief not only to employees but also to the self-employed, including gig workers. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was passed to provide sick leave in the form of tax credits that also extended to the self-employed. Beyond the governmental responses, Platform companies offered new limited relief to their workers in the form of sick leave, even as they continue to classify them as freelancers. Mass layoffs alongside mass hiring present immense legal challenges even without a health pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis adds the challenges of health and safety, social distancing, risk management, and telecommuting. This essay written for a symposium on Covid-19 and the Law examines employment law and employee classification in relation to the contemporary realities of the labor market during the Coronavirus pandemic. As business models and market structures are constantly changing and shifting, one thing remains the same: how we classify the work relationship carries enormous weight in determining the rights and duties of market actors. This essay presents the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of gig workers and the irrationalities of rigid classification tests that have always been the Achilles heel of the field of employment and labor law. The essay explores pandemic related economic benefits that have been extended to freelancers and considers the ways the pandemic reveals the nature (and future) of the gig economy. Part I explains the federal and state efforts to expand unemployment benefits to freelancers. It describes how the CARES and FFCRA Acts have expanded the emergency unemployment benefits, paid sick leave, and expanded family and medical leave to freelancers, and yet the funding and the operational details of these programs are still contested. Part II describes the continued service of gig workers during the pandemic, especially in the delivery sector, and how classification as freelancers has left many without medical leave rights, health and safety rights, and other protections. Drawing on my recent research, Part III argues that the fight over employee classification is a red herring, as it misses the point about what public protections ought to be provided to all workers in the labor market. I propose that certain employment and labor protections should be extended to non-employees whether they work on the digital platform or offline in more traditional settings. I further argue that our social welfare system should not be so heavily linked to the labor market.

We study the effect of proximity to corporate headquarters on the productivity of inventors and research and development (R&D) facilities, and the determinants of inventors and facilities’ proximity to headquarters. About half of sample inventors live within 40 miles of headquarters and about half of sample R&D facilities are located within 60 miles. Distant inventors and R&D facilities are less productive, and plausibly exogenous reductions in the travel time from inventors or facilities to headquarters increase their productivity and creativity. Inventors and facilities located farther away from headquarters are more likely to operate in locations with lower personal and corporate income tax rates, higher R&D tax credits, stronger local economies, and fewer nearby inventors not employed by the firm, relative to headquarters. Firms are more likely to employ distant inventors when they rely less on intangible assets for value creation and have less volatile performance. We conclude that proximity to headquarters increases inventor and R&D facility innovation production, and that firms and inventors balance the benefits of greater proximity against geographic costs and benefits when locating innovation activities.

Governments often subsidize private R&D using both direct subsidies and tax incentives. In this paper, I develop a framework for studying their interdependence, which also provides a test for detecting capital market imperfections. I implement two quasi-experimental research designs to examine firms in the United Kingdom and show that grants and tax credits are complements for small firms but substitutes for larger firms. Higher tax credit rates substantially enhance the effect of grants on R&D investment for small firms, particularly those facing financial constraints, but they reduce it for larger firms. The productivity of small firms also increases. My findings imply that the innovation policy mix should include both support mechanisms for small firms only.

Federal preemption doctrine constrains state power over undocumented immigrants. As courts and commentators focus on disputes over policing and removal, led by sanctuary cities and states, they overlook what I call “financial immigration federalism.” This Article uncovers emerging forms of financial immigration federalism while also reconsidering familiar forms. Federal tax legislation explicitly eliminated certain tax credits to undocumented immigrants, but states continue to explore expanding them—including by incentivizing employment that is considered illegal under federal law. State entities have supported long-term, owner-occupancy mortgages to undocumented immigrants, which the traditional government-sponsored enterprises do not purchase. And undocumented immigrants, including those with legal work authorization, have long been excluded from federal lending markets for higher education, a vacuum that states have filled with divergent policies. In each of these markets, states and localities act to both expand and limit financial options to undocumented immigrants, a form of immigration federalism. To analyze tensions between preemption and state sovereignty at the heart of financial immigration federalism, this Article uncovers the legal questions arising from states extending financial benefits to undocumented immigrants, particularly when conditioned on employment and long-term residency. I argue that competing deference regimes, including to state and local tax policy, should play a role in resolving the constitutionality of subnational financial sanctuary (or purgatory). I also consider the case for incorporating subnational intent, as opposed to just congressional or federal intent, in analyzing financial immigration federalism.

We examine a voluntary disclosure that is nonproprietary in nature and simply reflects management’s intention to explain how a widely-known nonrecurring economic event is reported in financial statements. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) retroactively reinstated previously expired tax provisions, including a tax credit for research and development expenditures. Nuances in GAAP reporting requirements related to retroactive tax legislation create a unique setting to examine voluntary disclosure choices by credibly separating the message of the disclosure from the underlying economics. We use tax disclosures in the 10-K filing to examine the determinants and consequences of nonproprietary disclosure. We find support that analyst following, engaging a Big 4 auditor, and competition increase the likelihood of voluntary disclosure. We also find evidence that suggests that some of the non-disclosing firms failed to adhere to GAAP and improperly recorded the benefits of the ATRA in their 2012 financial statements. Finally, we find that ATRA disclosures are useful to investors as firms disclosing the impact of the ATRA, compared to non-disclosing control firms, have greater first quarter 2013 analyst ETR forecast improvement. We also find that ATRA disclosure is positively associated with firm liquidity at the time of the disclosure event.

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has conducted a pre-feasibility study for a commercial-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) geologic storage complex in western Nebraska, integrated with potential CO2 capture at the coal-fired Gerald Gentleman Station (GGS). This pre-feasibility project has been executed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CarbonSAFE (Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise) Program, where projects are required to demonstrate the potential to capture and store at least 50 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 over a minimum 25-year operational period. Using publicly available data, this study has shown that western Nebraska has potential to host a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. However, three key challenges would need to be overcome. Firstly, the business case for deploying CCS projects is uncertain; recently announced federal tax credits and sales for enhanced oil recovery might not cover full project costs. Secondly, the potential dedicated storage site defined in this study is at a low level of readiness to support a CCS project. Thirdly, public outreach would be a vital element in western Nebraska, where sensitivities around such environmental issues as water resource protection and pipeline construction would need to be carefully addressed.

The term entrepreneur comes from the French word entreprendre, which signifies “one who undertakes innovations.” That underlying innovative nature typifies entrepreneurship’s vital role in our economy, contributing to both economic growth and industry progress. Many states affirmatively support entrepreneurship through tax credits, subsidies, and awards, as well as by sponsoring incubators and accelerators. And yet, despite this public policy favoring entrepreneurship, human capital law – which lies at the intersection of intellectual property, employment regulation, and contract law – has developed in ways that often curtail that very same entrepreneurial activity. Post-employment restrictions, both contractual and regulatory, particularly limit the ability of the most experienced professionals to found, or even join, new ventures. This chapter explores the discordant, contradictory nature of state policies favoring both entrepreneurial venture and human capital law and argues against the counter-productive expansion of restrictions on talent mobility. It first discusses the general disadvantage startups face in litigation brought by incumbents as well as the rise in intellectual property disputes and their effects on entrepreneurship. The chapter then presents the particular cost of human capital legal disputes on entrepreneurial spinoffs, that is, companies founded by former employees of competitors.

One of the strategic goals defined in Lisbon in 2000 was to enhance innovation in the EU. The economic rationale for this government interference is a perceived market failure in the market for R&D activities. The idea is that without government interference the amount of R&D activities will be too low because positive spill over effects (externalities) are not included in the market price. Usually, a distinction is made between input tax incentives that reduce costs of R&D on the one hand and output tax incentives that reduce taxable R&D profits. The Netherlands applies an input tax incentive, a Research and Development (R&D) tax credit and an output tax incentive, the innovation box. The aim of these incentives is to make the Netherlands attractive for innovative companies, to attract and keep high quality employment and to promote R&D activities in the Netherlands. The underlying objective is to increase economic growth. Given the rather large impact these tax incentives have on the Dutch budget, the question arises whether these R&D incentives have been effective. That is the topic of this paper. Before going into this analysis, first a short description of the features of both tax incentives are given. Then the findings of evaluations regarding these incentives and the costs of both incentives for the government are discussed. The author also addresses critique on these incentives.

Most US states have adopted movie production incentives with the intention to stimulate state economic growth through film industry investment and related economic activity. Previous cross-state studies of film incentives have not identified a stimulus effect; however, the zero-sum nature of interstate competition to attract business through targeted incentives complicates the identification of economic effects. If benefits accrue only to the few states offering the greatest incentives, then the impact might not be evident through interstate comparisons. This study uses the synthetic control method to examine the economic impact of relatively large film tax credit and grant subsidies offered by Georgia and North Carolina. Both states experienced lower per capita income than expected after implementing film incentives, indicating that economic benefits did not accrue to the winners of this economic incentives arms race.

In the decades ahead, as technology disintermediates (removes) humans from market transactions, policymakers will need to redefine what constitutes socially and economically “valuable” transactions, in other words: work. Because the work performed by caregivers and volunteers support our nation’s families and communities and generates significant economic value, this Essay argues that forward-looking public and tax policies should: (1) expressly define “valuable” work to include caregiver and volunteer services and (2) link individual economic benefit with the performance of such work via a refundable tax credit.