Professor Patricia Apps

Profile Publications

Profile

Degrees

MED Yale PhD Camb

Areas of Interest

• Public economics
• Welfare state
• Health policy
• Law and economics
• Taxation
• Labour markets
• Income distribution

Brief Biographical Detail

Patricia Apps is Professor of Public Economics, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor, Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, University of Technology, Sydney. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a Research Fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Germany, and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Household, Income, Labor and Demographic Economics (CHILD), Italy. In 2006 she was the elected President of the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE) and gave the Presidential Address at the XX Annual Conference held in Verona, Italy. Her research covers a wide range of areas in Public Economics. She has undertaken extensive empirical and theoretical analysis of the effects of tax policy on household labour supply, saving and fertility decisions, and has been a major contributor to the new literature on the economics of household. Her work has appeared in the leading international journals in economics and specialist journals in the field. She is joint author of Public Economics and the Household (Cambridge University Press, UK, 2009).

Professional Appointments

Recent Discussion Papers

• Apps, PF, Y Andrienko and R Rees (2012), 'Risk and Saving in Two-Person Households: More Scope for Precautionary Saving'
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2012), 'Optimal Taxation, Child Care and Models of the Household'
• Apps, P and R Rees (2012), 'Capital Income Taxation and the Mirrlees Review', Oxford Sydney Conference, Faculty of Law, 30-31 March 2012
• Apps, P, NV Long and R Rees (2011), 'Optimal Piecewise Linear Income Taxation', forthcoming Journal of Public Economic Theory

Publications

Books | Refereed Journal Articles since 1996 | Book Chapters since 1996 | Selected Publications prior to 1996 | Opinion Pieces | Submissions to Government Inquiries | Conference Papers (invited/refereed) since 2000

Books

• Apps, PF and R Rees (2009), Public Economics and the Household, Cambridge University Press: UK
• Apps, PF (1981), A Theory of Inequality and Taxation, Cambridge University Press: UK

Refereed Journal Articles since 1996

• Apps, PF, NV Long and R Rees (2012), 'Optimal Piecewise Linear Income Taxation', Journal of Public Economic Theory (forthcoming)
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2011), 'Optimal Taxation and Tax Reform for Two-Earner Households', CESifo Economic Studies, 57(2), 283-304
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2011), 'Relational Contracts, Taxation and the Household', CESifo Economic Studies, 57(2), 245-258
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2011), 'Testing the Pareto Efficiency of Household Resource Allocations', Ekonomia, 14(1), 57-68
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2010), 'Family Labor Supply, Taxation and Saving in an Imperfect Capital Market', Review of the Economics of the Household, 8(3), 297-323
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2010), 'Australian Family Tax Reform and the Targeting Fallacy', Australian Economic Review, 43(2), 1-25
• Apps, PF (2007), ‘Taxation and Labour Supply’, Australian Tax Forum, 22(3), 89-116
• Apps, PF, R Rees and M Wood (2007), 'Population Ageing, Taxation, Pensions and Health Costs’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 10(2), 79-97
• Rees, R and PF Apps (2007), ‘Genetic Testing, Income Distribution and Insurance Markets’, Les Annales d'Economie et de Statistique / The Annals of Economics and Statistics, 83-84, 353-368
• Apps, PF (2006), ‘Family Taxation: An Unfair and Inefficient System’, Australian Review of Public Affairs, 7(1), 77-101
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2005), ‘Gender, Time Use, and Public Policy Over the Life Cycle’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 21(3), 439-461
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2004), ‘Fertility, Female Labour Supply and Public Policy’, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 106, 745-763
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2004), ‘Taxation and Saving over the Life Cycle’, Ifo Economic Studies, 50, 479-502
• Apps, PF (2004), ‘The High Taxation of Working Families’, Australian Review of Public Affairs, 5, 1-24
• Apps, PF (2002), ‘Why an Earned Income Tax Credit Program is a Mistake for Australia’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 5(4), 549-568
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2002), ‘Fertility, Dependency and Social Security’, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 5(4), 569-585
• Apps, PF (2002), ‘Why an EITC Program Should be Rejected’ , Comment on “The Five Economists’ Plan: The Original Idea and Further Developments”, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 5(2), 231-237
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2001), ‘Household Production, Full Consumption and the Costs of Children’, Labour Economics, 8(6), 621-648
• Apps, PF (2001), ‘Why the Five Economists’ Plan for a ‘Wage-tax Trade-off’ is a Mistake for Australia’, Australian Tax Forum, 16, 422-438
• Apps, PF and R Rees (1999), ‘On the Taxation of Trade Within and Between Households’, Journal of Public Economics, 73, 241-263
• Apps, PF and R Rees (1999), ‘Individual vs. Joint Taxation in Models with Household Production’, Journal of Political Economy, 107, 393-403
• Apps, PF (1999), ‘Tax-Reform, Ideology and Gender’, Sydney Law Review, 21, 437-452
• Apps, PF (1998), ‘Tax-Benefit Reform’, Australian Tax Forum, 14, 455-486
• Apps, PF and R Rees (1997), ‘Collective Labor Supply and Household Production’, Journal of Political Economy, 105, 178-190
• Apps, PF (1997), ‘Effects of a Tax-Mix Change’, Australian Tax Forum, 13, 401-427
• Apps, PF and R Rees (1996), ‘Labour Supply, Household Production and Intra-Family Welfare Distribution’, Journal of Public Economics, 60, 199-219. Reprinted in: Economic Theory and the Welfare State, N Barr (ed), Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2001.

Book Chapters since 1996

• Apps, PF and R Rees (2011), 'Household Time Use, Inequality and Taxation' in J A Molina (ed), Household Economic Behaviors, Springer: New York, 57-81
• Apps, PF (2010), ‘Why the Henry Review Fails on Family Tax Reform’ in C Evans, R Krever & P Mellor (eds), Australia's Future Tax System: The Prospects After Henry, Lawbook Co.: Sydney, 103-127
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2009), 'Taxation, Labour Supply and Saving' in J Head, & R Krever (eds), Tax Reform in the 21st Century: A Volume in Memory of Richard Musgrave, Kluwer Law International: The Netherlands, 187-216
• Apps, PF (2007), 'The New Discrimination and Childcare' in E Hill, B Pocock & A Elliot (eds), Kids Count: Better Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, Sydney University Press: Sydney, Ch 4
• Apps, PF and R Rees (2005), 'Time Use and the Costs of Children over the Life Cycle' in D Hamermesh and G Phann (eds), The Economics of Time Use, Elsevier, Ch 8
• Apps, PF, GS Jones and EJ Savage (2003), 'Taxation', in I McAllister, S Dowick and R Hussan (eds), Cambridge Handbook of Social Sciences in Australia, Cambridge University Press: Melbourne, 138-152
• Apps, PF (2000), 'Reforming the Australian Tax-Transfer System', in H-G Petersen and P Gallagher (eds), Tax and Transfer Reform in Australia and Germany, Australian Centre Series 3, Australia Centre, University of Potsdam, 201-218
• Apps, PF (1999), 'Household Taxation, Intra-Household Consumption and Optimal Linear Income Taxation' (with R Rees), in S Daniel, P Arrestis and J Grahl (eds), Regulation Strategies and Economic Policies: Essays in Honour of Bernard Corry and Maurice Peston, Vol 3, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham
• Apps, PF (1998), 'Income Distribution, Redistribution and Incentives', in Wealth, Work, Well-Being, Occasional Paper Series 1/1998, Cunningham Lecture and Symposium, Academy of the Social Sciences, 79-105
• Apps, PF (1997), 'A Tax Mix Change: Effects on Tax Rates, Labour Supply and Saving Behaviour', in JG Head (ed), Taxation Towards 2000, Australian Tax Research Foundation, Ch 5, 103-121
• Apps, PF (1996), 'Taxation of Families: Individual Taxation Versus Income Splitting', in JG Head and Krever (eds), Tax Units and the Tax Rate Scale, Australian Tax Research Foundation, Ch3, 81-105

Selected Publications prior to 1996

• Apps, PF (1994), ‘Female Labour Supply, Housework and Family Welfare’, in R Blundell, I Preston and I Walker (eds), Measurement of Household Welfare, Cambridge University Press, Ch 6, 140-163
• Apps, PF (1991), ‘Tax Reform, Population Ageing and the Changing Labour Supply Behaviour of Married Women’, Journal of Population Economics, 201-216. Reprinted in D Bos and C Cnossen (eds), Fiscal Implications of an Aging Population, Springer-Verlag (1992) 137-152
• Apps, PF and EJ Savage (1989), ‘Labour Supply, Welfare Rankings and the Measurement of Inequality’, Journal of Public Economics, 39, 335-364
• Apps, PF and R Rees (1988), ‘Taxation and the Household’, Journal of Public Economics, 35, 155-169
• Apps, PF and GS Jones (1986), ‘Selective Taxation of Couples’, Journal of Economics, Supp 5, 63-74
• Apps, PF (1985), ‘The Relative Deprivation Curve and Its Applications’, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 3
• Apps, PF (1982), ‘Institutional Inequality and Tax Incidence’, Journal of Public Economics, 18, 217-242

Opinion Pieces

• “Election 2004: Taxing Times for Working Families” An Australian Review of Public Affairs (2004)
• “Family-Friendly Policies Make for Higher Fertility Rates”, On Line Opinion (2002)
• “Howard’s Family Tax Policies and the First Child Tax Refund”, The Drawing Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs, School of Economics and Political Science, University of Sydney (2002). Reprinted in G Cooper, R Krever and R Vann (eds), Personal Income Taxation, Butterworths.

Submissions to Government Inquiries

• 'Women and Retirement Incomes', NFAW submission to the Henry Review of Australia’s Future Tax System - retirement incomes, 21-34 (2009)
• 'Tax Reform, Targeting and the Tax Burden on women', NFAW submission to the Henry Review of Australia’s Future Tax System, 7-51 (2009)
• Inquiry into Balancing Work and Family Submission No 73 (2005). See: House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Family and Human Services – 16/05/2006 – Balancing Work and Family. Transcript of proceedings available here.

Conference Papers (invited/refereed since 2000)

• Apps, PF, 'Capital Income Taxation and the Mirrlees Review', presented at Oxford Sydney Conference, Faculty of Law, Sydney, 30-31 March 2012
• Apps, PF and R Rees, 'Time Use, Child Care, and Optimal Piecewise Linear Taxation', presented at 2012 ESPE Conference, Berne, 20-23 June, 2012. Also presented at Workshop on Child Care, Work, and Family: Issues for Australian Policy, NATSEM, Canberra, 19 January 2012
• Apps, PF, J Kabetek, R Rees and A van Soest, 'Labour Supply Heterogeneity and Demand for Child Care of Mothers with Young Children', presented at Workshop on Child Care, Work, and Family: Issues for Australian Policy, NATSEM, Canberra, 19 January 2012
• Apps, PF, 'Family Labour Supply, Child Care and Taxation' (with R Rees), presented at Workshop on “Taxation and the Family”, Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, Munich, 8-9 July 2010. Also presented at the Workshop on Resource Allocation and Welfare within the Family, ANU College of Business and Economics, ANU, Canberra, 6-7 August 2010
• Apps, PF and R Rees, 'A New Household Perspective on Family Income Taxation', presented at Workshop on “Taxation and the Family”, Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, Munich, 8-9 July 2010
• Apps, PF, 'Why the Henry Review’s Family Tax Reform Recommendations are Unsustainable', presented at Women and Tax Seminar, University of Sydney, 30 July 2010
• Apps, PF and R Rees, 'A New Perspective on Capital Income Taxation', presented at Australia’s Future Tax System: A Post-Henry Review, Sydney, 21-23 June 2010
• Apps, PF, 'Taxation, Saving and Family Tax Benefits Over the Life Cycle', Invited speaker, presented at Australia’s Future Tax System: A Post-Henry Review, Sydney, 21-23 June 2010
• Apps, PF, 'Family Time Use and Tax Policy over the Life Cycle', Keynote speaker, Conference on Changing Labour Relations, Utrecht University School of Economics, Utrecht, 9-10 November 2009
• Apps, PF, 'Tax Reform and the Economics of the Household', Invited speaker, Treasury Tax Review Seminars, Canberra, 23 July 2009
• Apps, PF, ‘Life Cycle Time Allocation and Saving in an Imperfect Capital Market’ (with Rees, R), presented at Netherlands Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement (NETSPAR) Workshops on Pensions, Amsterdam, 28-30 January 2009
• Apps, PF, ‘Life Cycle Time Use and the Household’, presented at 30th International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR) Conference , Sydney, 1-3 December 2008
• Apps, PF, ‘Taxation of Couples’, XXII Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, University College, London, 19-21 June 2008
• Apps, PF, ‘Household Taxation, Childcare and female Labour Supply Heterogeneity’, invited paper, Workshop on the labour market behaviour of couples: how do they work? GREDEG, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, 13-14 June 2008
• Apps, PF, ‘Taxation, Labour Supply and Saving’, Conference in Honour of Richard Musgrave, organized by Monash University, Sydney, 2-4 June 2008
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘Lifecycle Labour Supply, Heterogeinty and Public Supply’, presented at the XXI Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, University of Illinois, Chicago, 14-16 June, 2007
• Apps, PF, ‘Labour Supply and Tax Policy: Some OECD Comparisons’, presented at the New Zealand Association of Economists Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, 27-29 June 2007
• Apps, PF, ‘Female Labour Supply, Taxation and the New Discrimination’, presented at the XX Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, Verona, 22-24 June 2006
• Apps, PF, ‘Taxation, Household Time Use and Heterogeneity’, Nineteenth Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, Paris, 16-18 June 2005
• Apps, PF, ‘The High Taxation of Working Families’, CFMEU and ACOSS Conference: For Fairness and Services: Restoring the Integrity of the Taxation System, Sydney, 23 June 2004
• Apps, PF, ‘The Household, Time Use and Tax Policy’ (with R Rees), Eighteenth Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics, Bergen, 10-12 June 2004
• Apps, PF, R Rees and EJ Savage, ‘The Economics of a Two Tier Health System: A Fairer Medicare?’ 2003 Conference of the Australian Health Economics Society, Canberra, 2-3 Oct 2003
• Apps, PF, ‘Life Cycle Health Costs and Living Standards’ (with R Rees), 2003 Conference of Economists, Canberra, 29 Sept - 1 Oct 2003
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘The Taxation of Couples’, CESifo 2003 Venice Summer Institute Conference: Taxation and the Family, Venice, 24-26 July 2003
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘Effects of Family Tax Reform on Life Cycle Saving’, CESifo 2003 Venice Summer Institute: Taxation and the Family, Venice, 24-26 July 2003
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘Time Allocation and Saving in an Imperfect Capital Market’, NBER Summer Institute: Aggregate Implications of Microeconomic Consumption Behavior, Boston, 21-25 July 2003
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘Household Consumption, Domestic Production and Saving over the Life Cycle’, Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the European Society for Population Economics, New York. 2003
• Apps, PF and R Rees, ‘Time Use and Child Costs over the Life Cycle’, International Time Use Network Conference, St Gerlach, The Netherlands, 19-20 May 2003
• Apps, PF, ‘Gender, Time Use and Labor Allocation’, Keynote paper at the World Bank Workshop: Gender and Development, World Bank, Washington, 7 May 2002
• Apps, PF, ‘Why An Earned Income Tax Credit Program is a Mistake for Australia’, FH Gruen Public Lecture, ANU, 2 May 2002
• Apps, PF, ‘Fertility, Saving and Pension Reform: Fallacies Underpinning Current Policy Directions’, Ninth Annual Colloquium of Superannuation Research, UNSW, 9- 10 July 2000

ARC and NHMRC Funded Research Grants