Tax Smoothing with Financial Instruments
研究了随机环境下政府债务的最优结构，提出政府应通过发行风险证券来对冲预算冲击，实现税收在时间和自然状态上的平滑，并实证检验了税收平滑及各类证券的状态依存性。
This paper analyzes the optimal structure of government debt in a stochastic environment. In a model with distortionary taxes, the government should smooth tax rates over states of nature as well as over time. Government liabilities should be structured to hedge against macroeconomic shocks that affect the government budget. The optimal structure of government liabilities generally includes some "risky" securities that are state-contingent in real terms. The empirical part of the paper tests for tax smoothing and then studies state contingencies implemented by some specific securities, including nominal debt, long-term bonds, equity, and foreign-currency debt. Copyright 1990 by American Economic Association.