IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pophec/v17y2018i3p317-335.html

Just wealth transfer taxation

Author

Listed:
  • Cornelius Cappelen

    (University of Bergen, Norway)

  • Jørgen Pedersen

    (University of Bergen, Norway)

Abstract

This article examines John Stuart Mill’s influential proposal of how to tax wealth transfers. According to Mill, every person should be free to bequeath but not to receive bequest. Mill proposed an upper limit on how much each person could receive from wealth transfers. We discuss three objections against this proposal. The nonseparability objection holds that it is not possible to separate the freedom to give from the freedom to receive. The objection from private property holds that private property includes an unlimited right to dispose of one’s assets and that this right is violated under Mill’s scheme. The objection from incentives holds that Mill’s scheme would have negative effects on people’s willingness to work and save. We argue that these objections can be met and that taxing bequeathed wealth according to Mill’s scheme is more just and more efficient compared to systems that rely less on wealth transfer taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Cornelius Cappelen & Jørgen Pedersen, 2018. "Just wealth transfer taxation," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 17(3), pages 317-335, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:17:y:2018:i:3:p:317-335
    DOI: 10.1177/1470594X18762253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1470594X18762253
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1470594X18762253?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Holtz-Eakin & David Joulfaian & Harvey S. Rosen, 1993. "The Carnegie Conjecture: Some Empirical Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 413-435.
    2. Guido Erreygers & Giovanni Di Bartolomeo, 2007. "The Debates on Eugenio Rignano's Inheritance Tax Proposals," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 605-638, Winter.
    3. John Cunliffe & Guido Erreygers (ed.), 2004. "The Origins of Universal Grants," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-52282-4, March.
    4. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2010. "Economics of estate taxation: a brief review of theory and evidence," NBER Working Papers 15741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Atkinson, Anthony B., 2015. "Inequality what can be done?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. & Douglas M. Walker, 1996. "J. S. Mill on the Income Tax Exemption and Inheritance Taxes: The Evidence Reconsidered," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 28(4), pages 559-581, Winter.
    7. Thomas Paine, 2004. "Agrarian Justice (1797)," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: John Cunliffe & Guido Erreygers (ed.), The Origins of Universal Grants, chapter 1, pages 3-16, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Horioka, Charles Yuji & Gahramanov, Emin & Hayat, Aziz & Tang, Xueli, 2021. "The impact of bequest motives on labor supply and retirement behavior in Japan: A theoretical and empirical analysis," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Andreas Eder, 2016. "The impact of inheritances on the retirement behavior of older Europeans," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 43(2), pages 299-331, May.
    3. Charles Yuji Horioka & Emin Gahramanov & Aziz Hayat & Xueli Tang, 2019. "The Impact of Bequest Motives on Retirement Behavior in Japan: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Discussion Paper Series DP2019-26, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    4. Schratzenstaller, Margit, 2025. "Behavioral responses to inheritance taxation – A review of the empirical literature," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 238-260.
    5. Alexander Krenek & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2018. "A European Net Wealth Tax," WIFO Working Papers 561, WIFO.
    6. Elinder Mikael & Erixson Oscar & Ohlsson Henry, 2012. "The Impact of Inheritances on Heirs' Labor and Capital Income," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-37, December.
    7. Peppel-Srebrny, Jemima, 2021. "Not all government budget deficits are created equal: Evidence from advanced economies' sovereign bond markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    8. Sebastian Dyrda & Marcelo Pedroni, 2015. "Optimal Fiscal Policy in a Model with Uninsurable Idiosyncratic Shocks," Working Papers tecipa-550, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    9. Massimo Colombo & Annalisa Croce & Samuele Murtinu, 2014. "Ownership structure, horizontal agency costs and the performance of high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 265-282, February.
    10. Franzini, Maurizio & Raitano, Michele, 2019. "Earnings inequality and workers’ skills in Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 215-224.
    11. Gregory Ponthiere, 2025. "Social insurance against a short life: Ante-Mortem versus post-mortem policies," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 65(1), pages 255-290, August.
    12. Atolia, Manoj & Chatterjee, Santanu & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2012. "Growth and inequality: Dependence on the time path of productivity increases (and other structural changes)," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 331-348.
    13. Oriana Bandiera & Renata Lemos & Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun, 2018. "Managing the Family Firm: Evidence from CEOs at Work," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1605-1653.
    14. Islam, Nizamul & Colombino, Ugo, 2018. "The case for NIT+FT in Europe. An empirical optimal taxation exercise," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 38-69.
    15. Valeria Bonis & Luca Spataro, 2018. "Optimal income taxation and migration," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(4), pages 867-882, August.
    16. Ana Fernandes, 2011. "Altruism, labor supply and redistributive neutrality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1443-1469, October.
    17. Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew J., 2007. "Money and mental wellbeing: A longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 49-60, January.
    18. Nora Lustig, 2017. "Fiscal Policy, Income Redistribution and Poverty Reduction in Low and Middle Income Countries," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 54, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    19. Schmid, Günther, 2020. "Beyond European unemployment insurance. Less moral hazard, more moral assurance?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 465-480.
    20. Kindermann, Fabian & Mayr, Lukas & Sachs, Dominik, 2020. "Inheritance taxation and wealth effects on the labor supply of heirs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:17:y:2018:i:3:p:317-335. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.