evidence-based

July 1, 2016

Corporation Tax Reform: Theory, Evidence and Avoidance

There are efforts at national, EU and international levels to put forward significant reforms to the corporate tax system. The 20th century model of profits taxation is no longer fit for purpose in a globalised world where highly mobile intangible and financial capital is gaining in importance.
July 1, 2016

Radical, but Not Equal: Assessing Corporate Tax Reforms

A tax on turnover would tax profitable and loss-making firms equally, potentially posing an insurmountable hurdle to struggling firms, and eliminating the tax benefit of normally beneficial capital expenditure.
June 1, 2016

France: the Hottest Economy You’ve Never Heard of

France badly needs economic reform. But we shouldn’t let negative news headlines blind us to the fact that the French economy has tremendous potential and that, provided a small number of important but feasible policy changes, it can do very well.
May 1, 2016

Bans on Homesharing Won’t Redress Berlin’s Housing Shortage

A law banning short-term apartment rentals just came into force in Berlin. The measure, which was passed in 2014 but only entered into force on 1 May, is aimed at releasing housing for Berliners. In the words of Andreas Geise, the city’s head of urban development, the law is “a necessary and sensible instrument against the housing shortage in Berlin.”
April 1, 2016

Prospects for Agricultural Reform in the EU

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is today the EU’s most expensive policy, taking up almost half of the annual budget. It is also its most interventionist and complex policy. Multiple reforms have created a system of decoupled payments to farmers that protect and prolong the life of small-scale farms and constrain large-scale farming and the evolution towards a more efficient industry structure.
February 1, 2016

Regulatory Approaches to the Sharing Economy

The sharing economy is based on reductions in transaction costs which enable exchanges that were previously not possible. Sharing economy firms facilitate a more efficient use of assets, to the benefit of both asset owners and prospective users. Its potential positive impact on welfare has been estimated at over €1,000 per EU citizen.
June 1, 2015

Position: Digital Single Market Proposals

The digital revolution is increasingly making barriers to access, trade and innovation obsolete. Remaining obstacles to more efficient exchange of digital goods and services across the EU must be examined in this context. It is very likely that a continued open environment to innovation will be the most effective way to remove whatever barriers still exist. In general, the bias should be against new regulation.