Law Commons^™

Digital Vat And Development: D-Vat And D-Velopment, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

This article suggests that the time is right for developing countries to consider adopting a comprehensive, fully digital VAT, (complete with certified software and trusted third party intermediaries who could assume all of the taxpayer's VAT responsibilities) within the limited group of enterprises encompassed by the large taxpayer group.

Since the e-commerce revolution began in the 1990's, tax policy discussions in developed economies have enlisted "e-solutions" to streamline consumption tax administration, as well as to resolve technical problems.

Inspiration came from the marketplace. Policy-makers observed widespread, business-initiated e-solutions to consumption tax compliance problems in a wide spectrum of jurisdiction. There …

Patent Policy Adrift In A Sea Of Anecdote: A Reply To Lichtman, Michael J. Meurer, Craig Allen Nard

Faculty Scholarship

We enjoyed reading and thinking about Doug Lichtman's response to our article on the doctrine of equivalents (DOE), especially his eloquent formulation of the essential policy issues. Apparently, the three of us share roughly the same approach to economic analysis of the DOE. Nevertheless, Lichtman fears we have overestimated the skill of patent attorneys and lost track of the crucial role the DOE plays in augmenting patent scope and bolstering incentives to invent. We write this reply to highlight two largely empirical questions that we disagree about, and explain how these disagreements lead us to very different policy conclusions.

The One-Stop-Shop In Vat And Rst: Common Approaches To Eu-Us Consumption Tax Problems, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

In March 2004 the European Commission solicited comments on a proposal to simplify value added tax (VAT) obligations through a one-stop scheme. The proposal was modest in scope. It was designed to build upon the success of a similar scheme that dealt with non-EU established persons supplying digital products to non-taxable EU persons. That scheme is found in Article 26c of the Sixth VAT Directive.

In its March Consultation Paper the Commission proposed that businesses established within the EU be allowed to participate in a one-stop scheme that would be similar to the Article 26c scheme. Limited to B2C transactions, …

Calabresi And The Intellectual History Of Law And Economics, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This essay traces the vein of thought represented by Calabresi's "The Costs of Accidents", both backward in time to examine its sources, and forward to its impact on current scholarship. I focus on three broad topics: positive versus normative law and economics, positivist versus anti-positivist thinking in law, and the assumption of rationality in law and economics.

The Theory Of Penalties And The Economics Of Criminal Law, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This paper presents a model of penalties that reconciles the conflicting accounts optimal punishment by Becker, who argued penalties should internalize social costs, and Posner, who suggested penalties should completely deter offenses. The model delivers specific recommendations as to when penalties should be set to internalize social costs and when they should be set to completely deter offensive conduct. I use the model to generate a positive account of the function and scope of criminal law doctrines, such as intent, necessity, and rules governing the distinction between torts and crimes. The model is also consistent with the history of criminal …