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A Theory of the Welfare State

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Author Info
Sinn, Hans-Werner

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Abstract

The welfare state can be seen as an insurance device that makes lifetime careers safer, increases risk taking and suffers from moral hazard effects. Adopting this view, the paper studies the trade-off between average income and inequality, evaluating redistributive equilibria from an allocative point of view. It studies the problem of optimal redistributive taxation with tax-induced risk taking and shows that constant returns to risk taking are likely to imply a paradox where more redistribution results in more post-tax inequality. In general, optimal taxation will either imply that the redistribution paradox is present or that the economy operates at a point of its efficiency frontier where more inequality implies a lower average income.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 1278.

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Date of creation: Nov 1995
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1278

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Related research
Keywords: Redistribution; Welfare State;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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  1. John C. Harsanyi, 1953. "Cardinal Utility in Welfare Economics and in the Theory of Risk-taking," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61, pages 434. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 1989. "Two-Moment Decision Models and Expected Utility Maximization: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 601-02, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Varian, Hal R., 1980. "Redistributive taxation as social insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 49-68, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Milton Friedman, 1953. "Choice, Chance, and the Personal Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61, pages 277. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1968. "The Effects of Income, Wealth, and Capital Gains Taxation on Risk Taking," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 248, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Ahsan, Syed M, 1974. "Progression and Risk-Taking," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(3), pages 318-28, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Levy, Haim, 1989. "Two-Moment Decision Models and Expected Utility Maximization: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 597-600, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Eaton, Jonathan & Rosen, Harvey S, 1980. "Taxation, Human Capital, and Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 705-15, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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