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Taxation behind the veil of ignorance

Author

Listed:
  • Biung-Ghi Ju

    (Seoul National University)

  • Juan D. Moreno-Ternero

    (Universidad Pablo de Olavide)

Abstract

We explore the design of impartial tax schemes in a simple setup where agents’ incomes are completely determined by their inborn talents. Building on Harsanyi’s veil-of-ignorance approach, we conceptualize an impartial observer who chooses a tax scheme without knowing her own preferences and the distribution of talents, and whose vNM preferences behind the veil obey Harsanyi’s principle of acceptance and are independent, in terms of utility-scale, of the distribution of talents. Our results in the resulting framework provide three main messages: (i) the veil of ignorance implies anonymity of tax schemes; (ii) the veil of ignorance generically rejects utilitarian tax schemes; (iii) the veil of ignorance endorses the (Rawlsian) leveling tax scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Biung-Ghi Ju & Juan D. Moreno-Ternero, 2023. "Taxation behind the veil of ignorance," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 60(1), pages 165-181, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:60:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00355-021-01344-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-021-01344-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Ricardo Martínez & Juan D. Moreno‐Ternero, 2024. "Redistribution with needs," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 26(1), February.
    2. Klaser, Klaudijo & Mittone, Luigi, 2022. "Can the rawlsian veil of ignorance foster tax compliance? Evidence from a laboratory experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 99-113.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

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