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The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution

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  • N. Gregory Mankiw

    () (Harvard University, Economic Department)

  • Matthew C. Weinzierl

    () (Harvard Business School, Business, Government and the International Economy Unit)

Abstract

Should the income tax include a credit for short taxpayers and a surcharge for tall ones? The standard Utilitarian framework for tax analysis answers this question in the affirmative. Moreover, a plausible parameterization using data on height and wages implies a substantial height tax: a tall person earning $50,000 should pay $4,500 more in tax than a short person. One interpretation is that personal attributes correlated with wages should be considered more widely for determining taxes. Alternatively, if policies such as a height tax are rejected, then the standard Utilitarian framework must fail to capture intuitive notions of distributive justice.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Harvard Business School in its series Harvard Business School Working Papers with number 09-139.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:09-139

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  1. Does being short make you more likely to be a criminal?
    by Adam Ozimek in Modeled Behavior on 2010-05-03 11:39:11
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