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Does redistribution increase output? The centrality of labor supply

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  • Kartik Athreya
  • Andrew Owens
  • Felipe Schwartzman

Abstract

The aftermath of the recent recession has seen calls to use transfers to poorer households as a means to enhance aggregate economic activity. The goal of this paper is to study the effects of wealth redistribution from rich to poor households on consumption and output in the short run. We first demonstrate analytically how the direction and size of the output effects of such interventions depend on labor supply decisions. We then show that in a standard incomplete‐markets model extended to allow for nominal rigidities and parametrized to match the U.S. wealth distribution, wealth redistribution does lead to a temporary boom in consumption but a far smaller increase in output. Our results suggest substantial value in empirical research uncovering the distribution of marginal propensities to work in the population.

Suggested Citation

  • Kartik Athreya & Andrew Owens & Felipe Schwartzman, 2017. "Does redistribution increase output? The centrality of labor supply," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 8(3), pages 761-808, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:quante:v:8:y:2017:i:3:p:761-808
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Does Redistribution Increase Output? The Centrality of Labor Supply
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2014-05-08 19:26:59

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Neil R. Mehrotra, 2018. "Fiscal Policy Stabilization: Purchases or Transfers?," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 14(2), pages 1-50, March.
    2. Alisdair McKay & Ricardo Reis, 2016. "The Role of Automatic Stabilizers in the U.S. Business Cycle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 141-194, January.
    3. Krueger, D. & Mitman, K. & Perri, F., 2016. "Macroeconomics and Household Heterogeneity," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 843-921, Elsevier.
    4. Matthew Rognlie & Adrien Auclert, 2016. "Inequality and Aggregate Demand," 2016 Meeting Papers 1353, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Cristiano Cantore & Filippo Ferroni & Hroon Mumtaz & Angeliki Theophilopoulou, 2022. "A tail of labour supply and a tale of monetary policy," Bank of England working papers 989, Bank of England.
    6. Brinca, Pedro & Faria-e-Castro, Miguel & Ferreira, Miguel H. & Holter, Hans A. & Nóbrega, Valter, 2025. "The nonlinear effects of fiscal policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    7. Ciminelli, Gabriele & Ernst, Ekkehard & Merola, Rossana & Giuliodori, Massimo, 2019. "The composition effects of tax-based consolidation on income inequality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 107-124.
    8. Giambattista, Eric & Pennings, Steven, 2017. "When is the government transfer multiplier large?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 525-543.
    9. Paul Hubert & Frédérique Savignac, 2023. "Monetary Policy and Labor Income Inequality: the Role of Extensive and Intensive Margins," Working Papers hal-04524715, HAL.
    10. Giambattista,Eric & Pennings,Steven Michael, 2017. "When is the government transfer multiplier large ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8184, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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    1. Does redistribution increase output? The centrality of labor supply (Quantitative Economics 2017) in ReplicationWiki

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