IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v46y2014i8p880-894.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Differential income taxation and household asset allocation

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Ochmann

Abstract

This article empirically investigates the effects of differential income taxation on households' portfolio choice and asset allocation, applying a two-stage budgeting model of asset demand to German survey data. The model is structured into the discrete and the continuous asset choice. Cross-sectional variation in marginal tax rates, appropriately instrumented, as well as over-time variation from a major tax reform are used to identify the tax effects. Households with higher tax rates are found to have relatively greater demand for tax-privileged assets, such as nonowner-occupied housing, mortgage repayments, building society deposits, stocks, insurances and consumer credits, than households with lower tax rates. Demand at higher tax rates is lower for owner-occupied housing, bank deposits and bonds.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:46:y:2014:i:8:p:880-894
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2013.859381
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2013.859381
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2013.859381?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Poterba, James M., 2002. "Taxation, risk-taking, and household portfolio behavior," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 17, pages 1109-1171, Elsevier.
    2. Mervyn A. King & Jonathan I. Leape, 1987. "Asset Accumulation, Information, and the Life Cycle," NBER Working Papers 2392, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Marc Steffen Rapp & Bernhard Schwetzler, 2008. "Equilibrium Security Prices with Capital Income Taxes and an Exogenous Interest Rate," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 64(3), pages 334-351, September.
    4. Dubin, Jeffrey A & McFadden, Daniel L, 1984. "An Econometric Analysis of Residential Electric Appliance Holdings and Consumption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 345-362, March.
    5. J. Scott Shonkwiler & Steven T. Yen, 1999. "Two-Step Estimation of a Censored System of Equations," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(4), pages 972-982.
    6. Martin Beznoska & Richard Ochmann, 2010. "Household Savings Decision and Income Uncertainty," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1046, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Kevin Milligan, 2005. "Life‐cycle asset accumulation and allocation in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 1057-1106, August.
    8. Louis-David L. Dicks-Mireaux & Mervyn A. King, 1983. "Portfolio Composition and Pension Wealth: An Econometric Study," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 399-440, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Stefan Homburg, 2001. "German Tax Reform 2000. Description and Appraisal," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 57(4), pages 504-513, August.
    10. Stefan Hochguertel & Rob Alessie & Arthur Van Soest, 1997. "Saving Accounts versus Stocks and Bonds in Household Portfolio Allocation," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(1), pages 81-97, March.
    11. Guiso, Luigi & Jappelli, Tullio & Terlizzese, Daniele, 1996. "Income Risk, Borrowing Constraints, and Portfolio Choice," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 158-172, March.
    12. King, Mervyn A. & Leape, Jonathan I., 1998. "Wealth and portfolio composition: Theory and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 155-193, June.
    13. Stefan Homburg, 2007. "Germany's Company Tax Reform Act of 2008," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(4), pages 591-612, December.
    14. Alan J. Auerbach & Mervyn A. King, 1983. "Taxation, Portfolio Choice, and Debt-Equity Ratios: A General Equilibrium Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 98(4), pages 587-609.
    15. Alan, Sule & Atalay, Kadir & Crossley, Thomas F. & Jeon, Sung-Hee, 2010. "New evidence on taxes and portfolio choice," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 813-823, December.
    16. François Bourguignon & Martin Fournier & Marc Gurgand, 2007. "Selection Bias Corrections Based On The Multinomial Logit Model: Monte Carlo Comparisons," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 174-205, February.
    17. William N. Goetzmann & Alok Kumar, 2008. "Equity Portfolio Diversification," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(3), pages 433-463.
    18. Browning, Martin & Meghir, Costas, 1991. "The Effects of Male and Female Labor Supply on Commodity Demands," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(4), pages 925-951, July.
    19. Bernd Genser & Andreas Reutter, 2007. "Moving Towards Dual Income Taxation in Europe," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(3), pages 436-456, September.
    20. Christian Keuschnigg, 2011. "The Design of Capital Income Taxation: Reflections on the Mirrlees Review," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 437-452, September.
    21. Zietz, Joachim & Weichert, Ronald, 1988. "A dynamic singular equation system of asset demand," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1349-1357, July.
    22. Gerhard Wagenhals, 2001. "Incentive and Redistribution Effects of the German Tax Reform 2000," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 57(3), pages 316-332, May.
    23. Alain Carpentier & Hervé Guyomard, 2001. "Unconditional Elasticities in Two-Stage Demand Systems: An Approximate Solution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(1), pages 222-229.
    24. Richard Ochmann, 2013. "Asset demand in the financial AIDS portfolio model -- evidence from a major tax reform," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 649-670, April.
    25. Börsch-Supan, Axel & Reil-Held, Anette & Schunk, Daniel, 2006. "Das Sparverhalten deutscher Haushalte : Erste Erfahrungen mit der Riester-Rente," Papers 07-15, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    26. Mathias Sommer, 2005. "Trends in German households’ portfolio behavior - assessing the importance of age- and cohort-effects," MEA discussion paper series 05082, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    27. Corneo, Giacomo & Keese, Matthias & Schröder, Carsten, 2008. "Can governments boost voluntary retirement savings via tax incentives and subsidies? A German case study for low-income households," Economics Working Papers 2008-18, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    28. Haliassos, Michael & Bertaut, Carol C, 1995. "Why Do So Few Hold Stocks?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(432), pages 1110-1129, September.
    29. Agnar Sandmo, 1977. "Portfolio Theory, Asset Demand and Taxation: Comparative Statics with Many Assets," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 369-379.
    30. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2005. "Microeconometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521848053, October.
    31. Bernheim, B. Douglas, 2002. "Taxation and saving," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 18, pages 1173-1249, Elsevier.
    32. John Heaton & Deborah Lucas, 2000. "Portfolio Choice and Asset Prices: The Importance of Entrepreneurial Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1163-1198, June.
    33. John W. Diamond & George R. Zodrow, 2007. "Economic Effects of a Personal Capital-Income Tax Add-On to a Flat Tax," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(3), pages 374-395, September.
    34. Perraudin, William R. M. & Sorensen, Bent E., 2000. "The demand for risky assets: Sample selection and household portfolios," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 117-144, July.
    35. Deaton,Angus & Muellbauer,John, 1980. "Economics and Consumer Behavior," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521296762, October.
    36. Mihir A Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2011. "Dividend Taxes and International Portfolio Choice," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 266-284, February.
    37. William C. Brainard & James Tobin, 1968. "Pitfalls in Financial Model-Building," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 244, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    38. David Blake, 2004. "Modelling the composition of personal sector wealth in the UK," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(9), pages 611-630.
    39. John W. Diamond & George R. Zodrow, 2006. "Economic Effects of a Personal Capital Income Tax Add-On to a Consumption Tax," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0629, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    40. Heien, Dale & Wessells, Cathy Roheim, 1990. "Demand Systems Estimation with Microdata: A Censored Regression Approach," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 8(3), pages 365-371, July.
    41. James Banks & Richard Blundell & Arthur Lewbel, 1997. "Quadratic Engel Curves And Consumer Demand," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 527-539, November.
    42. Hans Fehr & Christian Habermann & Fabian Kindermann, 2008. "Tax-Favored Retirement Accounts: Are they Efficient in Increasing Savings and Growth?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 64(2), pages 171-198, June.
    43. Hochguertel, Stefan & van Soest, Arthur, 2001. "The Relation between Financial and Housing Wealth: Evidence from Dutch Households," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 374-403, March.
    44. R. S. Uhler & J. G. Cragg, 1971. "The Structure of the Asset Portfolios of Households," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(3), pages 341-357.
    45. Grimes, Arthur & Wong, Alfred Y-T. & Meads, Chris S., 1994. "A note on the correct specification of financial portfolio AIDS models," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 1171-1174, May.
    46. Martin Weiss, 2009. "Higher Tax Rates on Labor? Evidence from German Panel Data," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 65(1), pages 73-92, March.
    47. Hubbard, Robert Glenn, 1985. "Personal Taxation, Pension Wealth, and Portfolio Composition," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 53-60, February.
    48. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    49. David L. Edgerton, 1997. "Weak Separability and the Estimation of Elasticities in Multistage Demand Systems," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(1), pages 62-79.
    50. Rapp, Marc Steffen & Schwetzler, Bernhard, 2008. "Equilibrium security prices with capital income taxes and an exogenous interest rate," CEFS Working Paper Series 2008-08, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    51. Feldstein, Martin S, 1976. "Personal Taxation and Portfolio Composition: An Econometric Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 631-650, July.
    52. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    53. Taylor, John C. & Clements, Kenneth W., 1983. "A simple portfolio allocation model of financial wealth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 241-251.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frank M. Fossen & Ray Rees & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Viktor Steiner, 2020. "The effects of income taxation on entrepreneurial investment: A puzzle?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(6), pages 1321-1363, December.
    2. Richard Ochmann, 2013. "Asset demand in the financial AIDS portfolio model -- evidence from a major tax reform," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 649-670, April.
    3. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    4. Fossen, Frank M. & Rees, Ray & Rostam-Afschar, Davud & Steiner, Viktor, 2017. "How do entrepreneurial portfolios respond to income taxation?," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 12-2017, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    5. Rajat Deb & Prasenjit Deb & Sujit Majumder & Sourav Chakraborty & Kiran Sankar Chakraborty, 2019. "Answering Savings Puzzle About Small Saving Schemes and Mutual Funds: Evidence from Tripura," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 18(1), pages 7-19, June.
    6. Richard Ochmann, 2010. "Distributional and Welfare Effects of Germany's Year 2000 Tax Reform," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1083, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Martin Beznoska, 2014. "Estimating a Consumer Demand System of Energy, Mobility and Leisure: A Microdata Approach for Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1374, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Frank Fossen & Ray Rees & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Viktor Steiner, 2017. "How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Taxation?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6558, CESifo.
    9. Martin Beznoska & Richard Ochmann, 2013. "The interest elasticity of household savings: a structural approach with German micro data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 371-399, August.

    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. Richard Ochmann, 2013. "Asset demand in the financial AIDS portfolio model -- evidence from a major tax reform," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 649-670, April.
    2. Richard Ochmann, 2010. "Distributional and Welfare Effects of Germany's Year 2000 Tax Reform," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1083, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Perraudin, William R. M. & Sorensen, Bent E., 2000. "The demand for risky assets: Sample selection and household portfolios," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 117-144, July.
    4. Frank M. Fossen & Ray Rees & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Viktor Steiner, 2020. "The effects of income taxation on entrepreneurial investment: A puzzle?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(6), pages 1321-1363, December.
    5. Raffaele Miniaci & Sergio Pastorello, 2010. "Mean-variance econometric analysis of household portfolios," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 481-504.
    6. Fossen, Frank M. & Rees, Ray & Rostam-Afschar, Davud & Steiner, Viktor, 2017. "How do entrepreneurial portfolios respond to income taxation?," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 12-2017, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    7. Frank Fossen & Ray Rees & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Viktor Steiner, 2017. "How Do Entrepreneurial Portfolios Respond to Taxation?," CESifo Working Paper Series 6558, CESifo.
    8. Martin Beznoska & Richard Ochmann, 2013. "The interest elasticity of household savings: a structural approach with German micro data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 371-399, August.
    9. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.
    10. Laurent E. Calvet & Paolo Sodini, 2014. "Twin Picks: Disentangling the Determinants of Risk-Taking in Household Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(2), pages 867-906, April.
    11. Hochgürtel, S. & Alessie, R.J.M. & van Soest, A.H.O., 1995. "Household portfolio allocation in the Netherlands : Saving accounts versus stocks and bonds," Other publications TiSEM 83603afa-eb12-429b-94aa-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. Femenia, Fabienne, 2019. "A Meta-Analysis of the Price and Income Elasticities of Food Demand," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 68(2), June.
    13. Silvia Tiezzi & Stefano F. Verde, 2017. "The signaling effect of gasoline taxes and its distributional implications," RSCAS Working Papers 2017/06, European University Institute.
    14. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2018. "Demand for culture in Spain and the 2012 VAT rise," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 469-506, August.
    15. Huizinga, Harry & Todtenhaupt, Maximilian & Voget, Johannes & Wagner, Wolf, 2022. "Taxation and the external wealth of nations: Evidence from bilateral portfolio holdings," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    16. James M. Poterba, 2001. "Taxation and Portfolio Structure: Issues and Implications," NBER Working Papers 8223, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Ole Boysen, 2016. "Food Demand Characteristics in Uganda: Estimation and Policy Relevance," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 260-293, June.
    18. Holmes, Marionette & Park, Timothy A., 2001. "Modeling Financial Asset Demands Of Small Agribusiness Firms: A Portfolio Theory Approach," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20461, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Poterba, James M., 2002. "Taxation, risk-taking, and household portfolio behavior," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 17, pages 1109-1171, Elsevier.
    20. Silvia Tiezzi & Stefano F. Verde, 2019. "The signaling effect of gasoline taxes and its distributional implications," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(2), pages 145-169, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

    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:taf:applec:v:46:y:2014:i:8:p:880-894. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.