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Principles of Tax Design, Public Policy and Beyond: The Ideas of James Mirrlees, 1936–2018
Author(s) -
Blundell Richard,
Preston Ian
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
fiscal studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1475-5890
pISSN - 0143-5671
DOI - 10.1111/1475-5890.12183
Subject(s) - incentive , economics , work (physics) , tax policy , public economics , public policy , law and economics , positive economics , neoclassical economics , tax reform , microeconomics , engineering , economic growth , mechanical engineering
Abstract Sir James Mirrlees, co‐recipient of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, passed away in August 2018. This article outlines how his work has transformed economists’ understanding of their discipline – from the principles of tax design to the theory of contracts and beyond. By conceiving of policy questions in terms of information asymmetries between governments and taxpayers, Mirrlees demonstrated how to conduct convincing analysis of redistributive objectives together with incentive effects in the design of general tax systems and public policy more broadly. His ability to simplify complex problems in ways that reveal their tractable essence means that his work has yielded insights that have reverberated throughout the discipline. It has also proved highly fruitful for practical policy design.