Research

Working papers and ongoing research

My research investigates tax design, imperfect competition, firm mobility, market power, and income distribution in integrated economies.

Research output

Working Papers

Completed research papers currently available for circulation.

Fiscal Union Without Factor Union: Optimal VAT under Monopolistic Competition

Nicolas Djob Li Ngue Bikob · 2026 · Working paper

VAT · Optimal taxation

This paper studies destination-based value-added taxation in a two-country economy with monopolistic competition, endogenous entry, and asymmetric public-expenditure requirements. A supranational planner can accommodate international imbalances through a zero-sum transfer, creating a common marginal cost of public funds. The optimal Ramsey rule combines social resource costs, consumption values, product-market competition, and entry responses.

BibTeX
@unpublished{djob2026allocation,
  author = {Djob Li Ngue Bikob, Nicolas},
  title  = {Fiscal Union Without Factor Union: Optimal VAT under Monopolistic Competition},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Working paper}
}

Commodity Tax Principles, Firm Location, and Skilled-Wage Incidence under the Destination and Origin Principles

Nicolas Djob Li Ngue Bikob · 2026 · Submitted to International Tax and Public Finance

Submitted · 2026

The paper compares destination- and origin-based commodity taxation in an economy with monopolistic competition, mobile firms, and heterogeneous labour. Destination taxation changes consumer prices but leaves production location pinned down by factor supplies. Origin taxation changes the relative attractiveness of locations and therefore affects skilled wages, capital income, consumer prices, and fiscal revenue through firm relocation.

BibTeX
@unpublished{djob2026principles,
  author = {Djob Li Ngue Bikob, Nicolas},
  title  = {Commodity Tax Principles, Firm Location, and Skilled-Wage Incidence under the Destination and Origin Principles},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Submitted to International Tax and Public Finance}
}

Research agenda

Ongoing Research

Research projects currently under development. Drafts are available upon request.

Monopolistic Competition in OLG Models: Efficiency and Inequality

Pascal Belan and Nicolas Djob Li Ngue Bikob · 2026 · Ongoing research

OLG · Market power

This project studies how firms’ market power affects capital accumulation and the distribution of income in an overlapping-generations economy. Markups redistribute income between retirees, who supply capital, and young skilled and unskilled workers. The analysis characterizes policies that correct productive inefficiencies while addressing intergenerational and intragenerational redistribution.

Draft available upon request
BibTeX
@unpublished{belan_djob2026olg,
  author = {Belan, Pascal and Djob Li Ngue Bikob, Nicolas},
  title  = {Monopolistic Competition in OLG Models: Efficiency and Inequality},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Ongoing research}
}

Commodity Tax Principles, Iceberg Trade Costs, and Skilled-Wage Incidence

Anderson Vil, Nicolas Djob Li Ngue Bikob and Usama Jamal · 2026 · Ongoing research

International taxation

This project studies the design and incidence of commodity taxation under the destination and origin principles when international trade is subject to iceberg costs. The analysis examines how trade frictions affect firms’ location decisions, cross-border tax competition, consumer prices, and skilled wages. Particular attention is paid to the interaction between commodity-tax rules, market access, production relocation, and the distribution of welfare between skilled workers, unskilled workers, consumers, and governments.

Draft available upon request
BibTeX
@unpublished{vil_djob_jamal2026tax,
  author = {Vil, Anderson and Djob Li Ngue Bikob, Nicolas and Jamal, Usama},
  title  = {Commodity Tax Principles, Iceberg Trade Costs, and Skilled-Wage Incidence},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Ongoing research}
}

Dissertation

PhD Thesis

Taxation in a Globalized Economy: Resource Allocation, Monopolistic Competition, and Cross-Border Dynamics

Nicolas Djob Li Ngue Bikob · CY Cergy Paris Université · 2025

PhD thesis

The dissertation studies tax-policy design in a globalized economy. Its chapters examine optimal destination-based VAT, the welfare comparison between destination and origin principles, and extensions involving trade costs and the mobility of skilled labour.

BibTeX
@phdthesis{djob2025thesis,
  author = {Djob Li Ngue Bikob, Nicolas},
  title  = {Taxation in a Globalized Economy: Resource Allocation, Monopolistic Competition, and Cross-Border Dynamics},
  school = {CY Cergy Paris Université},
  year   = {2025}
}