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What Do Aggregate Consumption Euler Equations Say About the Capital-Income Tax Burden?

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  • Casey Mulligan

Abstract

Aggregate consumption Euler equations fit financial asset return data poorly. But they fit the return on the capital stock well, which leads us to three empirical findings relating to the capital income tax burden. First, capital taxation drives a wedge between consumption growth and the expected pre-tax capital return. Second, capital taxation is the major distortion in the capital market, in the sense that most of the medium and long run deviations between expected consumption growth and the expected pre-tax capital return are associated with capital taxation. Third, consumption growth appears to be pretty elastic to the after-tax capital return (i.e., capital is elastically supplied), even while it appears inelastic to returns on various financial assets. Capital income taxes are passed on through reduced capital accumulation, or higher markups, or some combination.
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  • Casey Mulligan, 2004. "What Do Aggregate Consumption Euler Equations Say About the Capital-Income Tax Burden?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 166-170, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:94:y:2004:i:2:p:166-170
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/0002828041302163
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    Cited by:

    1. Barbara Annicchiarico & Luisa Corrado & Alessandra Pelloni, 2011. "Long‐Term Growth And Short‐Term Volatility: The Labour Market Nexus," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(s1), pages 646-672, June.
    2. Casey B. Mulligan, 2010. "Aggregate Implications of Labor Market Distortions: The Recession of 2008-9 and Beyond," NBER Working Papers 15681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lu, Shu-Shiuan, 2013. "The role of capital market efficiency in long-term growth: A quantitative exploration," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 161-174.
    4. Bansal, Ravi & Kiku, Dana & Yaron, Amir, 2012. "An Empirical Evaluation of the Long-Run Risks Model for Asset Prices," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 1(1), pages 183-221, January.
    5. Alan, Sule & Atalay, Kadir & Crossley, Thomas F., 2019. "Euler Equation Estimation On Micro Data," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(8), pages 3267-3292, December.
    6. Alejandro Cuñat & Marco Maffezzoli, 2007. "Can Comparative Advantage Explain the Growth of us Trade?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(520), pages 583-602, April.
    7. Barbara Annicchiarico & Luisa Corrado & Alessandra Pelloni, 2008. "Volatility, Growth and Labour Elasticity," Working Paper series 32_08, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    8. Gourio, François, 2009. "Is there a majority to support a capital tax cut?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1278-1295, June.
    9. Marianne Andries, 2012. "Consumption-based Asset Pricing Loss Aversion," 2012 Meeting Papers 571, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Gourio, François & Siemer, Michael & Verdelhan, Adrien, 2013. "International risk cycles," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 471-484.
    11. Casey B. Mulligan, 2011. "Means-Tested Subsidies and Economic Performance Since 2007," NBER Working Papers 17445, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Taiji Harashima, 2005. "An Estimate of the Elasticity of Intertemporal Substitution in a Production Economy," Macroeconomics 0508030, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Xin Long & Robert Waldmann & Alessandra Pelloni, 2008. "Lump-Sum Taxes in a R&D Model," Working Paper series 35_08, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    14. Striani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Life-cycle consumption and life insurance: Empirical evidence from Italian Survey," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 619(C).
    15. Schiraldi, Pasquale & Levy, Matthew R., 2021. "Identification of Dynamic Discrete-Continuous Choice Models, with an Application to Consumption-Savings-Retirement," CEPR Discussion Papers 15719, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Julian Thimme, 2017. "Intertemporal Substitution In Consumption: A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 226-257, February.
    17. Ruan, Xinfeng & Zhang, Jin E., 2018. "Equilibrium variance risk premium in a cost-free production economy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 42-60.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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