Assessing the Effectiveness of Saving Incentives

Assessing the Effectiveness of Saving Incentives PDF Author: R. Glenn Hubbard
Publisher: A E I Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
In this paper, we argue that there is more to be learned from recent research on the effectiveness of targeted saving incentives than is suggested by the wide variation in empirical estimates. First, we conclude that characterizations of saving appear to stimulate moderate amounts of new saving. Second, we suggest a cost-benefit approach to ask: What is the incremental gain in capital accumulation per dollar of foregone revenue? We find that for quite conservative measures of the saving impacts of IRAs or 401(k)s, the incremental gains in capital accumulation per dollar of lost revenue are large.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Saving Incentives

Assessing the Effectiveness of Saving Incentives PDF Author: R. Glenn Hubbard
Publisher: A E I Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 56

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this paper, we argue that there is more to be learned from recent research on the effectiveness of targeted saving incentives than is suggested by the wide variation in empirical estimates. First, we conclude that characterizations of saving appear to stimulate moderate amounts of new saving. Second, we suggest a cost-benefit approach to ask: What is the incremental gain in capital accumulation per dollar of foregone revenue? We find that for quite conservative measures of the saving impacts of IRAs or 401(k)s, the incremental gains in capital accumulation per dollar of lost revenue are large.

Assessing effectiveness of saving incentives

Assessing effectiveness of saving incentives PDF Author: R. Glenn Hubbard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : es
Pages : 37

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Book Description


Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education

Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309225078
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a prominent example of such an effort, but it is only the continuation of a steady trend toward greater test-based accountability in education that has been going on for decades. Over time, such accountability systems included ever-stronger incentives to motivate school administrators, teachers, and students to perform better. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education reviews and synthesizes relevant research from economics, psychology, education, and related fields about how incentives work in educational accountability systems. The book helps identify circumstances in which test-based incentives may have a positive or a negative impact on student learning and offers recommendations for how to improve current test-based accountability policies. The most important directions for further research are also highlighted. For the first time, research and theory on incentives from the fields of economics, psychology, and educational measurement have all been pulled together and synthesized. Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education will inform people about the motivation of educators and students and inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems. Education researchers, K-12 school administrators and teachers, as well as graduate students studying education policy and educational measurement will use this book to learn more about the motivation of educators and students. Education policy makers at all levels of government will rely on this book to inform policy discussions about NCLB and state accountability systems.

Rethinking Property Tax Incentives for Business

Rethinking Property Tax Incentives for Business PDF Author: Daphne A. Kenyon
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781558442337
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The use of property tax incentives for business by local governments throughout the United States has escalated over the last 50 years. While there is little evidence that these tax incentives are an effective instrument to promote economic development, they cost state and local governments $5 to $10 billion each year in forgone revenue. Three major obstacles can impede the success of property tax incentives as an economic development tool. First, incentives are unlikely to have a significant impact on a firm's profitability since property taxes are a small part of the total costs for most businesses--averaging much less than 1 percent of total costs for the U.S. manufacturing sector. Second, tax breaks are sometimes given to businesses that would have chosen the same location even without the incentives. When this happens, property tax incentives merely deplete the tax base without promoting economic development. Third, widespread use of incentives within a metropolitan area reduces their effectiveness, because when firms can obtain similar tax breaks in most jurisdictions, incentives are less likely to affect business location decisions. This report reviews five types of property tax incentives and examines their characteristics, costs, and effectiveness: property tax abatement programs; tax increment finance; enterprise zones; firm-specific property tax incentives; and property tax exemptions in connection with issuance of industrial development bonds. Alternatives to tax incentives should be considered by policy makers, such as customized job training, labor market intermediaries, and business support services. State and local governments also can pursue a policy of broad-based taxes with low tax rates or adopt split-rate property taxation with lower taxes on buildings than land.State policy makers are in a good position to increase the effectiveness of property tax incentives since they control how local governments use them. For example, states can restrict the use of incentives to certain geographic areas or certain types of facilities; publish information on the use of property tax incentives; conduct studies on their effectiveness; and reduce destructive local tax competition by not reimbursing local governments for revenue they forgo when they award property tax incentives.Local government officials can make wiser use of property tax incentives for business and avoid such incentives when their costs exceed their benefits. Localities should set clear criteria for the types of projects eligible for incentives; limit tax breaks to mobile facilities that export goods or services out of the region; involve tax administrators and other stakeholders in decisions to grant incentives; cooperate on economic development with other jurisdictions in the area; and be clear from the outset that not all businesses that ask for an incentive will receive one.Despite a generally poor record in promoting economic development, property tax incentives continue to be used. The goal is laudable: attracting new businesses to a jurisdiction can increase income or employment, expand the tax base, and revitalize distressed urban areas. In a best case scenario, attracting a large facility can increase worker productivity and draw related firms to the area, creating a positive feedback loop. This report offers recommendations to improve the odds of achieving these economic development goals.

Financial Incentives and Retirement Savings

Financial Incentives and Retirement Savings PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264306927
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Are tax incentives the best way to encourage people to save for retirement? This publication assesses whether countries can improve the design of financial incentives to promote savings for retirement. After describing how different countries design financial incentives to promote savings for ...

Rethinking Investment Incentives

Rethinking Investment Incentives PDF Author: Ana Teresa Tavares-Lehmann
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231541643
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Governments often use direct subsidies or tax credits to encourage investment and promote economic growth and other development objectives. Properly designed and implemented, these incentives can advance a wide range of policy objectives (increasing employment, promoting sustainability, and reducing inequality). Yet since design and implementation are complicated, incentives have been associated with rent-seeking and wasteful public spending. This collection illustrates the different types and uses of these initiatives worldwide and examines the institutional steps that extend their value. By combining economic analysis with development impacts, regulatory issues, and policy options, these essays show not only how to increase the mobility of capital so that cities, states, nations, and regions can better attract, direct, and retain investments but also how to craft policy and compromise to ensure incentives endure.

Too Much Is Not Enough

Too Much Is Not Enough PDF Author: Robert W. Kolb
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199977127
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
The scholarly literature on executive compensation is vast. As such, this literature provides an unparalleled resource for studying the interaction between the setting of incentives (or the attempted setting of incentives) and the behavior that is actually adduced. From this literature, there are several reasons for believing that one can set incentives in executive compensation with a high rate of success in guiding CEO behavior, and one might expect CEO compensation to be a textbook example of the successful use of incentives. Also, as executive compensation has been studied intensively in the academic literature, we might also expect the success of incentive compensation to be well-documented. Historically, however, this has been very far from the case. In Too Much Is Not Enough, Robert W. Kolb studies the performance of incentives in executive compensation across many dimensions of CEO performance. The book begins with an overview of incentives and unintended consequences. Then it focuses on the theory of incentives as applied to compensation generally, and as applied to executive compensation particularly. Subsequent chapters explore different facets of executive compensation and assess the evidence on how well incentive compensation performs in each arena. The book concludes with a final chapter that provides an overall assessment of the value of incentives in guiding executive behavior. In it, Kolb argues that incentive compensation for executives is so problematic and so prone to error that the social value of giving huge incentive compensation packages is likely to be negative on balance. In focusing on incentives, the book provides a much sought-after resource, for while there are a number of books on executive compensation, none focuses specifically on incentives. Given the recent fervor over executive compensation, this unique but logical perspective will garner much interest. And while the literature being considered and evaluated is technical, the book is written in a non-mathematical way accessible to any college-educated reader.

Investment Incentives

Investment Incentives PDF Author: J. B. Bracewell-Milnes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789020004991
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Modern society cannot function without a high level of investment, just as it cannot function without a high level of taxation (or its equivalent in communist countries). Both investment and taxation (as a source of government revenue) are important for the level of production and employment. No wonder then that governments are faced with an increasing dilemma between higher taxation on the one hand and the need for stimulating investment by tax reductions or allowances on the other. Related to this is the choice between a market economy which is as free as possible and detailed governmental measures for monitoring and steering investments, not only with the intention to promote economic growth but to further a nu mb er of other social interests as weil. This is to some extent a political issue but the decisions it involves should still be based on sound economic facts and considerations. In many countries one of the important instruments for stimulating and steering investment is the introduction oi\modification of investment incentives within the framework of the tax system. The present book gives a lot of information on this subject. It endeavours to create a conceptual order in the somewhat chaotic multitude of incentives practised by the main industrial countries and studies their economic effects. The authors are weil equipped to do this because they were c10sely involved in the study on this subject made by Erasmus U niversity Rotterdam at the request of the Common Market Com mission.

The Handbook of Behavior Change

The Handbook of Behavior Change PDF Author: Martin S. Hagger
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108750117
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 730

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Book Description
Social problems in many domains, including health, education, social relationships, and the workplace, have their origins in human behavior. The documented links between behavior and social problems have compelled governments and organizations to prioritize and mobilize efforts to develop effective, evidence-based means to promote adaptive behavior change. In recognition of this impetus, The Handbook of Behavior Change provides comprehensive coverage of contemporary theory, research, and practice on behavior change. It summarizes current evidence-based approaches to behavior change in chapters authored by leading theorists, researchers, and practitioners from multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, behavioral science, economics, philosophy, and implementation science. It is the go-to resource for researchers, students, practitioners, and policy makers looking for current knowledge on behavior change and guidance on how to develop effective interventions to change behavior.

Improving Healthcare Quality in Europe Characteristics, Effectiveness and Implementation of Different Strategies

Improving Healthcare Quality in Europe Characteristics, Effectiveness and Implementation of Different Strategies PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264805907
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.