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Optimal nonlinear taxation of income and education expenditures

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  • Jang-Ting Guo
  • Alan Krause

Abstract

Previous studies that examine the simultaneous setting of income taxation and education policy have overwhelmingly concluded that optimal education policy should be regressive. In this paper, we depart from the existing literature by studying a dynamic model in which the government may choose to impose nonlinear taxes (or subsidies) on both labour income and education expenditures. Our main result is that optimal education policy in our model is progressive. Specifically, if the government can commit to its future tax policy, it is optimal for high-skill individuals to face a zero marginal tax rate on their education expenditures, while that for low-skill individuals is negative. If the government cannot commit, the optimal marginal tax rate on education expenditures by high-skill individuals is positive, while that for low-skill individuals remains negative. Optimal education policy is therefore more progressive when the government cannot commit. Copyright 2013 Oxford University Press 2012 All rights reserved, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Jang-Ting Guo & Alan Krause, 2013. "Optimal nonlinear taxation of income and education expenditures," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 65(1), pages 74-95, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:65:y:2013:i:1:p:74-95
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gps017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gianni de Fraja, 2002. "The Design of Optimal Education Policies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(2), pages 437-466.
    2. Jang‐Ting Guo & Alan Krause, 2011. "Optimal Nonlinear Income Taxation with Habit Formation," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 13(3), pages 463-480, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jang-Ting Guo & Alan Krause, 2018. "Changing social preferences and optimal redistributive taxation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 73-92.
    2. Guo, Jang-Ting & Krause, Alan, 2015. "Dynamic nonlinear income taxation with quasi-hyperbolic discounting and no commitment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 101-119.
    3. Guo, Jang-Ting & Krause, Alan, 2015. "Dynamic income taxation without commitment: Comparing alternative tax systems," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 319-326.
    4. Shigeo Morita, 2017. "Optimal income taxation without commitment: policy implications of durable goods," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(4), pages 2917-2934.
    5. Alan Krause, 2017. "On redistributive taxation under the threat of high-skill emigration," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 48(4), pages 845-856, April.
    6. Chen, Yunmin & Guo, Jang-Ting & Krause, Alan, 2020. "The credibility of commitment and optimal nonlinear savings taxation," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Giacomo Valletta, 2014. "Health, fairness and taxation," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 43(1), pages 101-140, June.
    8. Shigeo Morita, 2014. "The time consistent public goods provision," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-31, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    9. OBARA, Takuya, 2018. "Optimal human capital policies under the endogenous choice of educational types," CCES Discussion Paper Series 66_v2, Center for Research on Contemporary Economic Systems, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    10. Spencer Bastani & Firouz Gahvari & Luca Micheletto, 2022. "Nonlinear Taxation of Income and Education in the Presence of Income-Misreporting," CESifo Working Paper Series 9987, CESifo.
    11. Shigeo Morita, 2014. "Optimal income taxation without commitment: policy implications of durable goods," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 14-32, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    12. Shigeo Morita, 2022. "The MCPF under the pandemic," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(5), pages 993-1015, October.
    13. Shigeo Morita & Takuya Obara, 2021. "Public investment criteria under optimal nonlinear income taxation without commitment," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(4), pages 732-745, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • 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

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