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Smoking: taxing health and Social Security

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Author Info
Brian S. Armour
M. Melinda Pitts

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Abstract

While the health risks associated with smoking are well known, the impact on income distributions is not. This paper extends the literature by examining the distributional effects of a behavioral choice, in this case smoking, on net marginal Social Security tax rates (NMSSTR). The results show that smokers, as a result of shorter life expectancies, incur a higher NMSSTR than nonsmokers. In addition, as low-earnings workers have a higher smoking prevalence than high-earnings workers, smoking works to widen the income distribution. This higher tax rate could have implications for both labor supply behavior and Social Security system funding.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in its series Working Paper with number 2006-12.

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Date of creation: 2006
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedawp:2006-12

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Garrett, Daniel M, 1995. "The Effects of Differential Mortality Rates on the Progressivity of Social Security," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 457-75, July.
  2. Martin Feldstein & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Social Security," NBER Working Papers 8451, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • Feldstein, Martin & Liebman, Jeffrey B., 2002. "Social security," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 32, pages 2245-2324 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Brian S. Armour & M. Melinda Pitts, 2002. "Incorporating insurance rate estimates and differential mortality into net marginal Social Security tax rate calculations," Working Paper 2002-29, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
  4. Gary V. Engelhardt & Jonathan Gruber, 2004. "Social Security and the Evolution of Elderly Poverty," NBER Working Papers 10466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. John B. Shoven & Jeffrey O. Sundberg & John P. Bunker, 1987. "The Social Security Cost of Smoking," NBER Working Papers 2234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Brittain, John A, 1972. "The Incidence of the Social Security Payroll Tax: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 739-42, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Martin Feldstein & Andrew Samwick, 1992. "Social Security Rules and Marginal Tax Rates," NBER Working Papers 3962, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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