Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper suggests and begins to implement a new approach to the old and troublesome question of who bears the tax burden. The methodology rests on a simple concept of tax payment, enabling one to address issues of public interest while avoiding contentious assumptions on shifting. This alternative approach provides both a coherent rationale for some conventional empirical practices and a resolution in some areas of difficulty, such as the treatment of intermediate taxes in an open economy. Applying the method to this aspect of the U.K. tax system of 1979 points to a noticeably more progressive structure than has previously been depicted. Copyright 1990 by Royal Economic Society.