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Incentives and taxation in Rawls’s institutional theory of justice

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  • Desmarais-Tremblay, Maxime

Abstract

John Rawls proposed a theory of justice for the basic structure of society. Surprisingly, his suggestions for tax institutions were not well articulated. Rawls’s principles of justice do not prescribe a unique set of tax recommendations, but his remarks on tax matters reflect his vision of society as a cooperative venture in which everyone must work. This paper makes two contributions. First, it offers a chronological, systematic, and contextual analysis of what Rawls wrote on taxation. Rawls’s comments on taxation reveal his lifelong concern for preserving market incentives and his rejection of ability-to-pay as a principle of taxation. Second, the paper argues that some of Rawls’s tax proposals belong to nonideal theory because they depend on a conception of individuals in tension with the conception of moral persons developed in his theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Desmarais-Tremblay, Maxime, 2026. "Incentives and taxation in Rawls’s institutional theory of justice," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22, pages 1-1, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jinsec:v:22:y:2026:i::p:-_12
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