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Pensions, Income Taxes and Homeownership: A Cross-Country Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Hans Fehr
  • Maurice Hofmann
  • George Kudrna

Abstract

This paper studies the role of pensions and income taxes in determining homeownership and household wealth. It provides a cross-country analysis, using tax and pension policy designs in Germany, the US and Australia. These developed nations have similar incomes per capita but very different homeownership rates, with the US and Australia having much higher homeownership compared to Germany. The question is to what extent the observed differences in homeownership are induced by national tax and transfer policies. To that end, we develop a stochastic, overlapping generations (OLG) model with tenure choice. The model is calibrated to Germany featuring German statutory public pension and dual income tax systems, and then applied to study the effects of alternative income tax and pension policy structures. Our simulation results indicate that the US and Australian policy designs have a dramatic impact on homeownership, explaining more than half of the observed differentials. We also show significant macroeconomic effects due to differences in tax and pension policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Fehr & Maurice Hofmann & George Kudrna, 2021. "Pensions, Income Taxes and Homeownership: A Cross-Country Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9238, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9238
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Kudrna, George & Tran, Chung & Woodland, Alan, 2022. "Sustainable and equitable pensions with means testing in aging economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Eunseong Ma & Sarah Zubairy, 2021. "Homeownership And Housing Transitions: Explaining The Demographic Composition," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 599-638, May.
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    10. Cho, Sang-Wook (Stanley) & Sane, Renuka, 2013. "Means-Tested Age Pensions And Homeownership: Is There A Link?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1281-1310, September.
    11. Yunho Cho & Shuyun May Li & Lawrence Uren, 2024. "Investment Housing Tax Concessions And Welfare: A Quantitative Study For Australia," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(2), pages 781-816, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. George Kudrna & John Piggott & Phitawat Poonpolkul, 2022. "Extending Pension Policy in Emerging Asia: An Overlapping-Generations Model Analysis for Indonesia," CAMA Working Papers 2022-14, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    2. Ong, Rachel & Graham, James & Cigdem, Melek & Phelps, Christopher & Whelan, Stephen, 2023. "Financing first home ownership: modelling policy impacts at market and individual levels," SocArXiv p59te, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    housing demand; social security; income taxation; stochastic general equilibrium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models

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