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Generational Policy

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Author Info
Laurence J. Kotlikoff

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Abstract

Generational policy is a fundamental aspect of a nation's fiscal affairs. The policy involves redistributing resources across generations and allocating to particular generations the burden of paying the government's bills. This chapter of the second edition of The Handbook of Public Economics shows how generational policy works, how it's measured, and how much it matters to virtual as well as real economies. The chapter shows the zero-sum nature of generational policy. It then illustrates generational policy the difference between statutory and true fiscal incidence. It also illuminates the arbitrary nature of fiscal labels as well as their associated fiscal aggregates, including the budget deficit, aggregate tax revenues, and aggregate transfer payments. Finally, it illustrates the various guises of generational policy, including structural tax changes, running budget deficits, altering investment incentives, and expanding pay-as-you-go-financed social security. Once this example has been milked, the chapter shows that its lessons about the arbitrary nature of fiscal labels are general. They apply to any neoclassical model with rational economic agents and rational economic institutions. This demonstration sets the stage for the description, illustration, and critique of generational accounting. The chapter's final sections use a simulation model to illustrate generational policy, consider the theoretical and empirical case for and against Ricardian Equivalence, discuss government risk sharing and risk making, and summarize lessons learned.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8163.

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Date of creation: Mar 2001
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8163

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H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt

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  2. Buiter, Willem H, 1997. "Generational Accounts, Aggregate Saving and Intergenerational Distribution," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 64(256), pages 605-26, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. John Ablett & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Willi Leibfritz, 1999. "Generational Accounting in Australia," NBER Chapters, in: Generational Accounting around the World, pages 141-160 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  4. Douglas W. Elmendorf & N. Gregory Mankiw, 1998. "Government debt," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1998-09, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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  5. Glenn R. Hubbard & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, . "Precautionary Saving and Social Insurance," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 3-95, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
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  6. Summers, Lawrence H, 1981. "Capital Taxation and Accumulation in a Life Cycle Growth Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 533-44, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Ayse Imrohoroglu & Selahattin Imrohoroglu & Douglas H. Joines, 1999. "Social Security in an Overlapping Generations Economy with Land," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(3), pages 638-665, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1991. "Generational Accounts - A Meaningful Alternative to Deficit Accounting," NBER Working Papers 3589, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Bernd Raffelhuschen, 1999. "Generational Accounting around the Globe," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 161-166, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Hayashi, Fumio & Altonji, Joseph & Kotlikoff, Laurence, 1996. "Risk-Sharing between and within Families," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(2), pages 261-94, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Alan J. Auerbach & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Willi Leibfritz, 1999. "The Methodology of Generational Accounting," NBER Chapters, in: Generational Accounting around the World, pages 31-42 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  12. Bernd Raffelhüschen, 1993. "Funding social security through Pareto-optimal conversion policies," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 105-131, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & John Sabelhaus, 1996. "Understanding the Postwar Decline in U.S. Saving: A Cohort Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. 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)
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  16. Alan J. Auerbach & Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & John Sabelhaus & David N. Weil, 1995. "The Annuitization of Americans' Resources: A Cohort Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5089, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. William G. Gale & John Sabelhaus, 1999. "Perspectives on the Household Saving Rate," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 30(1999-1), pages 181-224. [Downloadable!]
  18. Seidman, Laurence S, 1983. "Taxes in a Life Cycle Growth Model with Bequests and Inheritances," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 437-41, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  22. Kehoe, Timothy J & Levine, David K, 1985. "Comparative Statics and Perfect Foresight in Infinite Horizon Economies," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(2), pages 433-53, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Tabellini, Guido, 1991. "The Politics of Intergenerational Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(2), pages 335-57, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Martin Feldstein, 1988. "The Effects of Fiscal Policies When Incomes are Uncertain: A Contradiction to Ricardian Equivalence," NBER Working Papers 2062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  25. O'Driscoll, Gerald P, Jr, 1977. "The Ricardian Nonequivalence Theorem," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(1), pages 207-10, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Hubbard, R. Glenn & Skinner, Jonathan & Zeldes, Stephen P., 1994. "The importance of precautionary motives in explaining individual and aggregate saving," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 59-125, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  27. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Willi Leibfritz & Willi Leibfritz, 1999. "An International Comparison of Generational Accounts," NBER Chapters, in: Generational Accounting around the World, pages 73-102 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  28. Hubbard, R Glenn & Judd, Kenneth L, 1987. "Social Security and Individual Welfare: Precautionary Saving, Borrowing Constraints, and the Payroll Tax," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 630-46, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  29. Roberto Cardarelli & James Sefton & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1999. "Generational Accounting in the UK," NIESR Discussion Papers 147, National Institute of Economic and Social Research. [Downloadable!]
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  30. Barsky, Robert B & Mankiw, N Gregory & Zeldes, Stephen P, 1986. "Ricardian Consumers with Keynesian Propensities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 676-91, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Paul A. Samuelson, 1958. "An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest with or without the Social Contrivance of Money," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66, pages 467. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. 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)
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  33. repec:chb:bcchwp:04 is not listed on IDEAS
  34. Kotlikoff, Laurence J & Razin, Assaf & Rosenthal, Robert W, 1990. "A Strategic Altruism Model in Which Ricardian Equivalence Does Not Hold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(403), pages 1261-68, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  35. Kotlikoff, Laurence J. & Summers, Lawrence H., 1987. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 1043-1092 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    • Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Lawrence H. Summers, 1988. "Tax Incidence," NBER Working Papers 1864, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  36. Fischer, Stanley, 1980. "Dynamic inconsistency, cooperation and the benevolent dissembling government," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 93-107, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  37. Bernheim, B Douglas & Bagwell, Kyle, 1988. "Is Everything Neutral?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(2), pages 308-38, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  38. Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1995. "Applying Generational Accounting to Developing Countries," Boston University - Institute for Economic Development 67, Boston University, Institute for Economic Development.
  39. Feldstein, Martin S, 1974. "Social Security, Induced Retirement, and Aggregate Capital Accumulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(5), pages 905-26, Sept./Oct. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  40. Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 1999. "Uncertainty and the Design of Long-Run Fiscal Policy," NBER Working Papers 7036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  41. Eisner, Robert & Pieper, Paul J, 1986. "A New View of the Federal Debt and Budget Deficits: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1156-57, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  42. Laitner, John, 1984. "Transition time paths for overlapping-generations models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 111-129, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  43. Kotlikoff, Laurence J & Persson, Torsten & Svensson, Lars E O, 1988. "Social Contracts as Assets: A Possible Solution to the Time-Consistency Problem," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(4), pages 662-77, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  44. Chamley, Christophe, 1981. "The Welfare Cost of Capital Income Taxation in a Growing Economy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(3), pages 468-96, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  45. Imrohoroglu, Ayse & Imrohoroglu, Selahattin & Joines, Douglas H, 1998. "The Effect of Tax-Favored Retirement Accounts on Capital Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(4), pages 749-68, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  46. Feldstein, Martin S, 1977. "The Surprising Incidence of a Tax on Pure Rent: A New Answer to an Old Question," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(2), pages 349-60, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  47. James J. Heckman & Lance Lochner & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Explaining Rising Wage Inequality: Explorations with a Dynamic General Equilibrium Model of Labor Earnings with Heterogeneous Agents," NBER Working Papers 6384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  48. Imrohoroglu, Ayse & Imrohoroglu, Selahattin & Joines, Douglas H, 1995. "A Life Cycle Analysis of Social Security," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 83-114, June.
  49. Altonji, Joseph G & Hayashi, Fumio & Kotlikoff, Laurence J, 1997. "Parental Altruism and Inter Vivos Transfers: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(6), pages 1121-66, December.
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  50. Ghiglino, Christian & Shell, Karl, 2000. "The Economic Effects of Restrictions on Government Budget Deficits," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 106-137, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Erling Steigum, 2001. "Trade Unions and the Burden of the Public Debt," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  2. Francisco J. Gomes & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Luis M. Viceira, 2007. "The Excess Burden of Government Indecision," NBER Working Papers 12859, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Jianjun Miao & Neng Wang, 2007. "Risk, Uncertainty, and Option Exercise," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-016, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Jerry Green & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2006. "On the General Relativity of Fiscal Language," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2006-036, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Roel Beetsma & Heikki Oksanen, 2007. "Pension Systems, Ageing and the Stability and Growth Pact," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  6. Kamil Dybczak, 2006. "Generational Accounts in the Czech Republic," Working Papers 2006/2, Czech National Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  7. Karin Mayr, 2005. "The Fiscal Impact of Immigrants in Austria – A Generational Accounting Analysis," Empirica, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 181-216, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Juan Carlos Conesa & Carlos Garriga, 2009. "Generational policy and the macroeconomic measurement of tax incidence," Working Papers 2009-003, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  9. Karin Mayr, 2004. "The fiscal impact of immigrants in Austria--a generational accounting analysis," Economics working papers 2004-09, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. [Downloadable!]
  10. Jerry Green & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2006. "On the General Relativity of Fiscal Language," NBER Working Papers 12344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2007. "Is the U.S. Bankrupt?," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-015, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Francois Gourio, 2007. "Putty-Clay Technology And Stock Market Volatility," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-005, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Erling Holmøy, 2007. "Fiscal sustainability: Must the problem be diminished before we can see it?," Discussion Papers 499, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jagadeesh Gokhale & Kent Smetters, 2003. "Fiscal and generational imbalances: new budget measures for new budget priorities," Policy Discussion Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Dec. [Downloadable!]
  15. Jagadeesh Gokhale & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2002. "Simulating the Transmission of Wealth Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 265-269, May. [Downloadable!]
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