scholarly journals CAPITAL TAXES, LABOR TAXES AND THE HOUSEHOLD

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-260
Author(s):  
Rigas Oikonomou ◽  
Christian Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Limited Commitment ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Welfare Gains ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Labor Taxes ◽  
Life Cycle Pattern ◽  
The Impact

Abstract:We study the impact of capital and labor taxation in an economy where couples bargain over the intrahousehold allocation under limited commitment. In this framework more wealth improves commitment and gives rise to insurance gains within the household. Our theory motivates these gains by the empirical observation that wealth, in contrast to labor income, is a commonly held resource within households. Based on this observation we study whether eliminating capital taxes from the economy, and raising labor taxes to balance the government’s budget, may generate welfare gains to married households. We illustrate that the quantitative effects from this reform are rather small. We attribute the small effects to the life cycle pattern of wealth accumulation and to the impact of labor income taxes on household risk sharing: In particular, we show that higher labor taxes may make the limited commitment friction more severe, even though they may make the distribution of labor income more equitable within the household.

AN EVALUATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON CAPITAL TAXATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1519-1544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Begoña Domínguez ◽  
Zhigang Feng
Keyword(s):  
Incentive Compatibility ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Limited Commitment ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Capital Taxation ◽  
Capital Tax ◽  
Constitutional Constraints ◽  
Compatibility Constraint ◽  
Sustainable Equilibrium

This paper investigates the desirability of constitutional constraints on capital taxation in an environment without government debt and where benevolent governments have limited commitment. In our setup, governments can choose proportional capital and labor income taxes subject to the constitutional constraint but cannot commit to an actual path of taxes. First, we explore a form of constitutional constraint: a constant cap on capital tax rates. In our quantitative exercise, we show that a three percent cap on capital taxes provides the highest welfare at the worst sustainable equilibrium. However, such a cap decreases welfare at the best sustainable equilibrium (both because it constrains feasibility and because it tightens the incentive compatibility constraint). Second, we identify a form of constitutional constraint that can improve all sustainable equilibria. That constraint features a cap on capital taxes that increases with the level of capital.

scholarly journals Unemployment insurance with limited commitment wage contracts and savings

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rigas Oikonomou
Keyword(s):  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Limited Commitment ◽  
Wealth Accumulation ◽  
Heterogeneous Agent ◽  
Stock Level ◽  
Optimal Contracts ◽  
Agent Model ◽  
Participation Constraint ◽  
The Government

Abstract I present a model of optimal contracts between firms and workers, under limited commitment and with worker savings. In the model, firms provide insurance against unemployment through targeting a frontloaded path of wages which encourages wealth accumulation. I provide analytical results characterising the wage and savings schedules and the path of consumption during employment and unemployment. I then consider how unemployment benefits affect risk sharing through private markets. I find that benefits should be frontloaded; the government has the incentive to drive the allocation to the point where the firm’s participation constraint binds. At this point wages are equal to productivity in every period, wealth exceeds the buffer stock level, and consumption and savings drop over time. The drop in the level of consumption during unemployment is mitigated. Finally, I compare the optimal contract model to the standard heterogeneous agent model whereby wealth is utilized for self-insurance purposes. I show that the two models are equivalent under the optimal UI policy.

A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ON MAJOR TAX REFORM: AGRICULTURE AND THE 1913 INCOME TAX LAW

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas K. Barney ◽  
Tonya K. Flesher
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Special Interest Groups ◽  
Congressional Debates ◽  
Farm Population ◽  
Income Tax Law ◽  
State Income ◽  
The Impact

Farmers have benefited from unique tax treatment since the beginning of the income tax law. This paper explores agricultural influences on the passage of the income tax in 1913, using both qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results show that agricultural interests were influential in the development and passage of tax/tariff laws. The percentage of congressmen with agricultural ties explains the strong affection for agriculture. Discussion in congressional debates and in agricultural journals was passionate and patriotic in support of equity for farmers. The quantitative analysis reveals that the percentage farm population was a significant predictor of passage of the 16th Amendment by the states and of adoption of state income taxes in the 20th century.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAXATION IN THE BIBLE: IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTING, MEASUREMENT, AND COMPUTATION IN THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel L. Jose ◽  
Charles K. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Property Taxes ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Indirect Taxes ◽  
Special Assessment ◽  
The Impact

This paper traces the development of five taxation types in the Bible — income taxes, property taxes, special assessment taxes, poll taxes (all direct taxes), and indirect taxes. The development of these taxes is discussed within the context of Israel's historical development. The impact of counting, measurement, and computation on the development of taxation is also considered.

scholarly journals How Risky Is That Risk Sharing Agreement? Mean-Variance Tradeoffs and Unintended Consequences of Six Common Risk Sharing Agreements

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 238146832199040
Author(s):  
Gregory S. Zaric
Keyword(s):  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Financial Risk ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Drug Costs ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Total Drug ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Clinical Benefits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mean Variance

Background. Pharmaceutical risk sharing agreements (RSAs) are commonly used to manage uncertainties in costs and/or clinical benefits when new drugs are added to a formulary. However, existing mathematical models of RSAs ignore the impact of RSAs on clinical and financial risk. Methods. We develop a model in which the number of patients, total drug consumption per patient, and incremental health benefits per patient are uncertain at the time of the introduction of a new drug. We use the model to evaluate the impact of six common RSAs on total drug costs and total net monetary benefit (NMB). Results. We show that, relative to not having an RSA in place, each RSA reduces expected total drug costs and increases expected total NMB. Each RSA also improves two measures of risk by reducing the probability that total drug costs exceed any threshold and reducing the probability of obtaining negative NMB. However, the effects on variance in both NMB and total drug costs are mixed. In some cases, relative to not having an RSA in place, implementing an RSA can increase variability in total drug costs or total NMB. We also show that, for some RSAs, when their parameters are adjusted so that they have the same impact on expected total drug cost, they can be rank-ordered in terms of their impact on variance in drug costs. Conclusions. Although all RSAs reduce expected total drug costs and increase expected total NMB, some RSAs may actually have the undesirable effect of increasing risk. Payers and formulary managers should be aware of these mean-variance tradeoffs and the potentially unintended results of RSAs when designing and negotiating RSAs.

scholarly journals Is the Minimum Wage Effective in a Context of Informality?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Susana Herrero Olarte
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
South American ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
South American Region ◽  
Effect Estimation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

There is a general trend in the South American region to increase the minimum wage (MW) to reduce poverty and inequality. However, empirical studies are inconclusive with respect to the effect of the MW. This study seeks to contribute to the empirical evidence regarding the impact of this policy by exploring its limitations and possibilities for reducing poverty in Ecuador. Unlike other studies, a measure to capture informality in the labor market is included. Using fixed effect estimation with panel data, I determine the relationship between labor income deciles and variations in the MW, using a proxy for its effectiveness. The results suggest that the MW positively affects the lower income deciles, to a lesser extent the intermediate deciles and with no effect on the higher ones. However, when considering a control for the degree of informality in the labor market, the effect on the lower deciles is mitigated. Therefore, increases in the MW may be a strategy to increase the income of the middle and vulnerable class, but it does not seem to be useful for reducing poverty.

The Wrong Shape of Insurance? What Cross-Sectional Distributions Tell Us about Models of Consumption Smoothing

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Broer
Keyword(s):  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Limited Commitment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Joint Distributions ◽  
Insurance Contracts ◽  
Moment Measures ◽  
Method Of Moments Estimation ◽  
Estimated Risk ◽  
Standard Models ◽  
Insurance Model

This paper shows how two standard models of consumption risk-sharing—self-insurance through borrowing and saving and limited commitment to insurance contracts—replicate similarly well the standard, second-moment measures of insurance observed in US micro data. A nonparametric analysis, however, reveals strongly contrasting and counterfactual joint distributions of consumption, income and wealth. Method of moments estimation shows how measurement error in consumption eliminates excessive skewness and smoothness of consumption growth. Moreover, counterfactual nonlinearities disappear at high-estimated risk aversion under self-insurance, but are a robust feature of limited commitment. Its “shape of insurance” thus argues in favor of the self-insurance model. (JEL D14, D81, D91, G22, E21)

Business Income Taxes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard E. Burman ◽  
Joel Slemrod
Keyword(s):  
Income Tax ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Business Income

How do we tax corporations’ income? In principle, under an income tax all income is subject to taxation. Moreover, no kinds of income are subject to exceptionally high tax and no kinds are subject to exceptionally low tax. This principle applies to labor income, the...

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