From theory to practice: Canadian economists’ contributions to public finance

Abstract

AbstractWe survey Canadian economists’ contributions to the field of public finance from the mid‐1980s to 2016. We highlight the development and extension of the models and tools of public economics and the empirical studies that have deepened our understanding of the efficiency and distributional issues over a wide range of public finance issues. We also highlight contributions to the development of policies through commissioned reports and the important role that Canadian institutions—the Canadian Tax Foundation, the think tanks and the federal and provincial departments of finance—have played in shaping tax and fiscal policies.