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Fiscal Policy with Heterogeneous Agents and Incomplete Markets

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Author Info
Heathcote, Jonathan (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)

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Abstract

I undertake a quantitative investigation into the short run effects of changes in the timing of taxes for a model economy in which heterogeneous households trade only one asset and face a borrowing constraint. This asset market structure implies that the consumption of low wealth households is sensitive to tax changes. The main finding of the paper is that when the wealth distribution in the model resembles that in the United States, market incompleteness accounts for large immediate aggregate consumption increases following tax cuts, and large consumption falls following tax increases. When taxes are lump-sum, for example, a dollar change in tax revenue is associated with a 15 cent change in aggregate consumption, compared to a response of roughly one third this size when markets are complete but households are finitely-lived. I find the response to tax changes to be larger if the interest rate is constant rather than determined endogenously, and smaller if taxes are proportional rather than lump-sum.

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Paper provided by Stockholm School of Economics in its series Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance with number 319.

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Length: 42 pages
Date of creation: 19 May 1999
Date of revision: 28 Jul 1999
Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0319

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Related research
Keywords: Fiscal policy; heterogeneous agents; incomplete markets; Ricardian equivalence; borrowing constraints.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy

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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, 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. Matthew Canzoneri & Robert Cumby & Behzad Diba & Olena Mykhaylova, 2006. "New Keynesian Explanations of Cyclical Movements in Aggregate Inflation and Regional Inflation Differentials," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 27-55, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mark A. Carlson & Thomas B. King & Kurt F. Lewis, 2009. "Distress in the financial sector and economic activity," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-01, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Yann Algan & Xavier Ragot, 2005. "Monetary policy with heterogenous agents and credit constraints," PSE Working Papers 2005-45, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. G. C. Lim & Paul D. McNelis, 2008. "Cyclical Government Spending, Income Inequality and Welfare in Small Open Economies," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2008n18, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  5. Xavier Ragot, 2008. "The case for a financial approach to money demand," PSE Working Papers 2008-56, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  6. Matthews, Kent & Meenagh, David & Minford, Patrick & Webb, Bruce, 2006. "Monetary regimes: is there a trade-off between consumption and employment variability?," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2006/12, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. José Victor Rios-Rull, 2002. "Desigualdad, ¿qué sabemos?," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 26(2), pages 221-254, May. [Downloadable!]
  8. Juan C. Conesa & Dirk Krueger, 1999. "Social Security Reform with Heterogeneous Agents," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(4), pages 757-795, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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