Patricia Apps is Professor of Public Economics at the University of Sydney. Ray Rees is Professor of Economics at the University of Munich.

• 1. Introduction and overview; 2. Time allocation and household production; 3. Household models: theory; 4. Empirical household models; 5. Labour supply, consumption and saving over the life cycle; 6. Household taxation: introduction; 7. Optimal linear and piecewise linear income taxation; 8. Optimal non-linear taxation; 9. Tax reform; Bibliography; Index.

'Most of economic theory assumes that human beings spend their life alone. In reality most of us live in families and our decisions are taken collectively as a couple, often with children, and economic incentives are at play as well in intra-family interactions. This wonderful book by two leaders of the field fills this gap. It brings together a vast literature in a coherent framework and provides a host of new insights on the economics of the family and the taxation of it. A must read for any scholar in public finance and anybody interested in the economics of the family. The book is mostly theory but the connection with real world tax issues is never forgotten. A splendid achievement.' Alberto Alesina, Harvard University