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A Road Map for Efficiently Taxing Heterogeneous Agents

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  • Marios Karabarbounis

Abstract

This paper characterizes optimal labor income taxes that depend on age, household assets, and filing status (one or two earners) within a life-cycle model with heterogeneous, two-member households. The key innovation is a labor supply elasticity that varies endogenously among households. I find that tax distortions should be hump shaped in age, decrease in household assets, and be lower for joint relative to single filers. Age and assets act as complements within the optimal tax policy. Overall, a tax system using all three tags can increase consumption up to 6.4 percent and welfare up to 1.5 percent. (JEL D14, D91, H21, H24, J22, J31)

Suggested Citation

  • Marios Karabarbounis, 2016. "A Road Map for Efficiently Taxing Heterogeneous Agents," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 182-214, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:8:y:2016:i:2:p:182-214
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.20140274
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Heathcote, Jonathan & Storesletten, Kjetil & Violante, Giovanni L., 2020. "Optimal progressivity with age-dependent taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    3. Blandin, Adam & Peterman, William B., 2019. "Taxing capital? The importance of how human capital is accumulated," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 482-508.
    4. Abby Alpert & David Powell, 2020. "Estimating Intensive And Extensive Tax Responsiveness," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1855-1873, October.
    5. Ali Elminejad & Tomas Havranek & Roman Horvath & Zuzana Irsova, 2023. "Intertemporal Substitution in Labor Supply: A Meta-Analysis," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 1095-1113, December.
    6. Krueger, D. & Mitman, K. & Perri, F., 2016. "Macroeconomics and Household Heterogeneity," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 843-921, Elsevier.
    7. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2020. "Dynamic Taxation," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 801-831, August.
    8. Roman Horvath & Ali Elminejad & Tomas Havranek, 2020. "Publication and Identification Biases in Measuring the Intertemporal Substitution of Labor Supply," Working Papers IES 2020/32, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Sep 2020.
    9. Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2017. "Health, Health Insurance, and Retirement: A Survey," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 383-409, September.
    10. Jean‐Baptiste Michau, 2021. "On the Provision of Insurance against Search‐Induced Wage Fluctuations," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 382-414, January.
    11. Henrique S. Basso & Omar Rachedi, 2021. "The Young, the Old, and the Government: Demographics and Fiscal Multipliers," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 110-141, October.
    12. Jones, John Bailey & Li, Yue, 2018. "The effects of collecting income taxes on Social Security benefits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 128-145.
    13. Keane, Michael P., 2022. "Recent research on labor supply: Implications for tax and transfer policy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. John Bailey Jones & Yue Li, 2023. "Social Security Reform with Heterogeneous Mortality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 48, pages 320-344, April.
    15. Miguel Lorca, 2021. "Effects of COVID‐19 early release of pension funds: The case of Chile," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(4), pages 903-936, December.
    16. P. J. Glandon & Ken Kuttner & Sandeep Mazumder & Caleb Stroup, 2023. "Macroeconomic Research, Present and Past," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1088-1126, September.
    17. Woodland, A., 2016. "Taxation, Pensions, and Demographic Change," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 713-780, Elsevier.
    18. Ortigueira, Salvador & Siassi, Nawid, 2023. "On the optimal reform of income support for single parents," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    19. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Marianna Kudlyak & John Mondragon, 0. "Greater Inequality and Household Borrowing: New Evidence from Household Data," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2922-2971.
    20. Choonsung Park, 2020. "Consumption, Reservation Wages, and Aggregate Labor Supply," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 54-80, July.
    21. Westerhout, Ed, 2020. "The Adverse and Beneficial effects of Front-Loaded Pension Contributions," Discussion Paper 2020-016, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    22. Abdoulaye Ndiaye, 2017. "Flexible Retirement and Optimal Taxation," Working Paper Series WP-2018-18, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    23. Kotsogiannis, Christos & Mateos-Planas, Xavier, 2019. "Tax evasion as contingent debt," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100941, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    24. Westerhout, Ed, 2020. "The Adverse and Beneficial effects of Front-Loaded Pension Contributions," Other publications TiSEM 25806b9b-8208-4ae6-b309-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    25. Christos Kotsogiannis & Xavier Mateos-Planas, 2019. "Tax Evasion as Contingent Debt," Discussion Papers 1903, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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