Taxation by Auction: Fund-Raising by 19th Century Indian Guilds

Arijit Sen and Anand Swamy
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Arijit Sen: Indian Statistical Institute, http://www.isical.ac.in/

No 2000-11, Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: We describe a unique institution used by 19th century Indian guilds to raise funds: The guild members agreed that on a particular day all but one of their shops would be shut. An auction would be held to determine which one shop would remain open, and the winning bid would go to the guild funds. We compare this "taxation by auction" mechanism with more conventional tax schemes and show that under certain conditions, not only will a majority of the guild members prefer to be taxed via an auction, but that this form of taxation will be more equitable than other forms.

Keywords: Auctions; Fund-Raising; Indian Guilds; Taxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N85 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2000-11
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Published in Journal of Development Economics, August 2004, v. 74, iss. 2, pp. 411-28

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Related works:
Journal Article: Taxation by auction: fund raising by 19th century Indian guilds (2004)
Working Paper: Taxation by Auction: Fund-Raising by 19th Century Indian Guilds (2000)
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