Excess Burden and the Voluntary Theory of Public Finance.

The traditional "excess burden" analysis is the usual method of discussing inefficient tax devices.[1] Such analysis has not, however, been integrated with the voluntary theory of public finance, in which the individual is assumed not only to react to taxes but also to determine public expenditure through the use of his vote. This paper will discuss the voter's decision calculus when public expenditures are constitutionally or institutionally constrained to be financed by inefficient tax devices. We will attempt to show how and why considerations of excess burden and inefficiency enter the voter's choice calculus, and how these considerations affect both the quantity of public goods he will choose and the number of tax devices he will use to finance those goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]