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Pareto Efficient Tax Structures

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Author Info
Dagobert L. Brito
Jonathan H. Hamilton
Steven M. Slutsky
Joseph E. Stiglitz

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Abstract

Most analyses of optimal income taxation make restrictive technical assumptions on preferences (such as single-crossing) and only derive properties of welfare-maximizing tax schedules. Here, for an economy with any finite numbers of groups and commodities, Pareto efficient tax structures are described assuming only continuity and monotonicity of preferences. Most results follow directly from a property of self-selection: at an optimum, one group will never envy the bundle of another group which pays a larger total tax. The bundle of a group paying the largest total tax is undistorted. Assuming normality, undistorted outcomes for a group form a connected segment on the constrained utility possibility frontier. The tax structure at distorted outcomes is also described.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 3288.

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Date of creation: Nov 1991
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3288

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  1. Sadka, Efraim, 1976. "On Income Distribution, Incentive Effects and Optimal Income Taxation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 261-67, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(114), pages 175-208, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Diamond, Peter A & Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production: I--Production Efficiency," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 8-27, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Brito, D.L. & Hamilton, J.H. & Slutsky, S.M. & Stiglitz, J.E., 1989. "Randomization In Optimal Income Tax Schedules," Papers 89-6, Florida - College of Business Administration.
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  5. Guesnerie Roger & Seade Jesus, 1981. "Nonlinear pricing in a finite economy," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 8118, CEPREMAP.
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  6. Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1982. "Self-selection and Pareto efficient taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 213-240, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Jordahl, Henrik & Micheletto, Luca, 2002. "Optimal Utilitarian Taxation and Horizontal Equity," Ratio Working Papers 17, The Ratio Institute. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Craig Brett & John A. Weymark, 2005. "Optimal Nonlinear Taxation of Income and Savings in a Two Class Economy," Working Papers 0525, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
  3. Homburg, Stefan, 2002. "The Optimal Income Tax: Restatement and Extensions," Diskussionspapiere der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Hannover dp-252, Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Yukihiro Nishimura, 2008. "Envy Minimization in the Optimal Tax Context," Working Papers 1178, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Thomas Gaube, 2000. "Efficient Public Good Provision with Nonlinear Income Taxation," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0850, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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