Amortissement fiscal et redistribution dans un modèle de croissance néoclassique

In this paper it is analyzed whether capital depreciation allowances are good instruments for redistribution in the long run. In a simple two-class economy it is shown that in the short run and absent optimizing behaviour accelerated depreciation is good for growth and may stabilize investment in a recession but is generally bad for redistribution. The opposite holds for capital income taxes. However, when the private sector and the government act optimally the optimal depreciation allowance is maximal in the long run. This removes the accumulation distortion of capital income taxes. Furthermore, redistribution may be nonzero, depending i.a. on the social weight of those who receive redistributive transfers, the distribution of pre-tax factor incomes, the intertemporal elasticity of substitution and the rate of time preference. It is argued that accelerated depreciation allowances, extensively used in the recent economic crisis, are an important indirect tool for redistribution. JEL Classification codes: H21, D33, O41.