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Redistributive Taxation and Personal Bankruptcy in US States

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Author Info
Charles Grant () (University of Reading and EUI)
Winfried Koeniger () (IZA Bonn, University of Bonn and EUI)

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Abstract

Both personal bankruptcy and redistributive taxes can insure households’ consumption risk and both vary considerably across US states. We derive sufficient conditions under which more redistributive taxation makes bankruptcy exemptions less attractive both for the intratemporal insurance and for inter-temporal consumption smoothing. Exploiting data variation over time for 18 US states 1980-2003, we find considerable support for our model’s predictions: (i) redistributive taxation and bankruptcy exemptions are negatively correlated; (ii) both policies are associated with more equal consumption growth whereas the effect on unsecured household debt is less clear-cut.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1805.

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Length: 54 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2005
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1805

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Related research
Keywords: personal bankruptcy; consumer credit; redistributive taxes and transfers;

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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
E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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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. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri, 2005. "Does income inequality lead to consumption equality? evidence and theory," Staff Report 363, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Attanasio, Orazio & Davis, Steven J, 1996. "Relative Wage Movements and the Distribution of Consumption," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1227-62, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Athreya, Kartik, 2006. "Fresh start or head start? Uniform bankruptcy exemptions and welfare," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2051-2079, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Donald Cox & Tullio Japelli, 1993. "The Effect Of Borrowing Constraints On Consumer Liabilities," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 228, Boston College Department of Economics.
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  5. Varian, Hal R., 1980. "Redistributive taxation as social insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 49-68, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gropp, Reint & Scholz, John Karl & White, Michelle J, 1997. "Personal Bankruptcy and Credit Supply and Demand," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(1), pages 217-51, February.
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  7. Deaton, Angus & Paxson, Christina, 1994. "Intertemporal Choice and Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 437-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 2000. "Unnatural Experiments? Estimating the Incidence of Endogenous Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(467), pages F672-94, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Hansen, Gary D & Imrohoroglu, Ayse, 1992. "The Role of Unemployment Insurance in an Economy with Liquidity Constraints and Moral Hazard," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(1), pages 118-42, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Berkowitz, Jeremy & Hynes, Richard, 1999. "Bankruptcy Exemptions and the Market for Mortgage Loans," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 809-30, October.
  11. Marina Pavan, 2003. "Consumer Durables and Risky Borrowing: the Effects of Bankruptcy Protection," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 573, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 01 May 2005. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Winfried Koeniger & Giuseppe Bertola, 2004. "Consumption Smoothing and the Structure of Labor and Credit Markets," 2004 Meeting Papers 263, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Charles Grant & Christos Koulovatianos & Alexander Michaelides & Mario Padula, 2003. "Redistributive Policies through Taxation: Theory and Evidence," CSEF Working Papers 100, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Deaton, Angus, 1991. "Saving and Liquidity Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1221-48, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Zame, William R, 1993. "Efficiency and the Role of Default When Security Markets Are Incomplete," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1142-64, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Athreya, Kartik B., 2002. "Welfare implications of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1999," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(8), pages 1567-1595, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Richard Blundell & Luigi Pistaferri & Ian Preston, 2004. "Consumption inequality and partial insurance," IFS Working Papers W04/28, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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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. Rigmar Osterkamp, 2006. "Insolvency in selected OECD countries: Outcomes and regulations," CESifo DICE Report, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 4(1), pages 27-33, 04. [Downloadable!]
  2. Michelle J. White, 2008. "Bankruptcy: Past Puzzles, Recent Reforms, and the Mortgage Crisis," NBER Working Papers 14549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Giuseppe Bertola & Winfried Koeniger, 2007. "Consumption Smoothing and Liquidity Income Redistribution," CFS Working Paper Series 2006/34, Center for Financial Studies. [Downloadable!]
  4. Burcu Duygan-Bump & Charles Grant, 2008. "Household debt repayment behaviour: what role do institutions play?," Quantitative Analysis Unit Working Paper QUA08-3, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
  5. Bertola, Giuseppe & Koeniger, Winfried, 2007. "Consumption Smoothing and Income Redistribution," CEPR Discussion Papers 6051, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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