IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gat/wpaper/2209.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Predistribution vs. Redistribution:Evidence from France and the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Antoine Bozio

    (PSE, EHESS)

  • Bertrand Garbinti

    (CREST-ENSAE-IP Paris, WIL)

  • Jonathan Goupille-Lebret

    (Univ Lyon, CNRS, GATE UMR 5824, F-69342 Lyon, France, and ENS de Lyon)

  • Malka Guillot

    (HEC Liège, IPP, WIL)

  • Thomas Piketty

    (PSE, EHESS)

Abstract

We construct series of post-tax income for France over the 1900-2018 period and compare them with U.S. series. We quantify the extent of redistribution and estimate the impact of redistribution vs pretax inequality on post-tax inequality. We obtain three major findings. First, redistribution has increased in both countries to reach similar levels today. Second, the long-run decline in post-tax inequality in France is due mostly to the fall in pretax inequality. Third, the relative lower post-tax inequality in France is entirely explained by differences in pretax inequality. This suggests that more attention should be paid to policies affecting pretax inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Bozio & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Malka Guillot & Thomas Piketty, 2022. "Predistribution vs. Redistribution:Evidence from France and the U.S," Working Papers 2209, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
  • Handle: RePEc:gat:wpaper:2209
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.gate.cnrs.fr/RePEc/2022/2209.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexis Eidelman & Fabrice Langumier & Augustin Vicard, 2013. "Prélèvements et transferts aux ménages : des canaux redistributifs différents en 1990 et 2010," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 459(1), pages 5-26.
    2. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2469-2496, July.
    3. Thomas, Alan, 2017. "Republic of Equals: Predistribution and Property-Owning Democracy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190602116, December.
    4. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    5. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    6. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    7. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    8. Filip Novokmet & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905-2016," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 189-223, June.
    9. Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Piketty, Thomas, 2018. "Income inequality in France, 1900–2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 63-77.
    10. Annette Alstadsæter & Niels Johannesen & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Tax Evasion and Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(6), pages 2073-2103, June.
    11. Thomas Blanchet & Lucas Chancel & Amory Gethin, 2019. "How Unequal is Europe? Evidence from Distributional National Accounts, 1980-2017," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02877000, HAL.
    12. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953)," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kuzn53-1.
    13. Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "Capital is Back: Wealth-Income Ratios in Rich Countries 1700–2010," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1255-1310.
    14. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Emmanuel Saez & Nicholas Turner & Danny Yagan, 2017. "Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility," Working Papers 2017-059, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    15. Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2002. "Redistribution in the Current U.S. Social Security System," NBER Chapters, in: The Distributional Aspects of Social Security and Social Security Reform, pages 11-48, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Okner, Benjamin A & Pechman, Joseph A, 1974. "Who Paid the Taxes in 1966?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 168-174, May.
    17. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 553-609.
    18. Richard Blundell & Antoine Bozio & Guy Laroque, 2013. "Extensive and Intensive Margins of Labour Supply: Work and Working Hours in the US, the UK and France," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 1-29, March.
    19. Fack, Gabrielle, 2006. "Are housing benefit an effective way to redistribute income? Evidence from a natural experiment in France," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 747-771, December.
    20. Marie Chanchole & Guy Lalanne, 2012. "Photographie du système socio-fiscal et de sa progressivité," Post-Print halshs-01511000, HAL.
    21. Simon Kuznets & Elizabeth Jenks, 1953. "Shares of Upper Income Groups in Savings," NBER Chapters, in: Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings (1953), pages 171-218, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Alexis Eidelman & Fabrice Langumier & Augustin Vicard, 2013. "Prélèvements et transferts aux ménages : des canaux redistributifs différents en 1990 et 2010," Post-Print halshs-01510478, HAL.
    23. Anthony Atkinson & Thomas Piketty, 2010. "Top Incomes : A Global Perspective," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754875, HAL.
    24. Florence Jusot & Renaud Legal & Alexis Louvel & Catherine Pollak & Amir Shmueli, 2016. "A quoi tient la solidarité de l’assurance maladie entre les hauts revenus et les plus modestes en France ?," Revue française d'économie, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(4), pages 15-62.
    25. Facundo Alvaredo & Lydia Assouad & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Measuring lnequality in the Middle East 1990–2016: The World’s Most Unequal Region?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(4), pages 685-711, December.
    26. Marie Chanchole & Guy Lalanne, 2012. "Photographie du système socio-fiscal et de sa progressivité," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01511000, HAL.
    27. Marc Morgan, 2017. "Extreme and Persistent Inequality: New Evidence for Brazil Combining National Accounts, Surveys and Fiscal Data, 2001-2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-02794605, HAL.
    28. Marie Chanchole & Guy Lalanne, 2012. "Photographie du système socio-fiscal et de sa progressivité," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(2), pages 19-40.
    29. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2014. "Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 230-271, February.
    30. Niklas Bengtsson & Bertil Holmlund & Daniel Waldenström, 2016. "Lifetime versus Annual Tax-and-Transfer Progressivity: Sweden, 1968–2009," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 118(4), pages 619-645, October.
    31. Marie Chanchole & Guy Lalanne, 2012. "Photographie du système socio-fiscal et de sa progressivité," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 200(2), pages 19-40.
    32. Anthony Atkinson & Thomas Piketty, 2007. "Top incomes over the twentieth century: A contrast between continental european and english-speaking countries," Post-Print halshs-00754859, HAL.
    33. Daron Acemoglu & Pascual Restrepo, 2020. "Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(6), pages 2188-2244.
    34. Alexis Eidelman & Fabrice Langumier & Alexis Vicard, 2013. "Prélèvements et transferts aux ménages : des canaux redistributifs différents en 1990 et 2010," Post-Print halshs-01028149, HAL.
    35. David H. Autor & Alan Manning & Christopher L. Smith, 2016. "The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to US Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 58-99, January.
    36. SeHyoun Ahn & Greg Kaplan & Benjamin Moll & Thomas Winberry & Christian Wolf, 2018. "When Inequality Matters for Macro and Macro Matters for Inequality," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 1-75.
    37. (IFS), Institute for Fiscal Studies (ed.), 2010. "Dimensions of Tax Design: The Mirrlees Review," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199553754, December.
    38. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00944873 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Jae Song, 2014. "Trade Adjustment: Worker-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1799-1860.
    40. Thomas Piketty & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2018. "The End of the Rentiers: Paris 1842-1957," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-02797891, HAL.
    41. Bozio, Antoine & Breda, Thomas & Guillot, Malka, 2020. "The Contribution of Payroll Taxation to Wage Inequality in France," IZA Discussion Papers 13317, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    42. Vanda Almeida, 2020. "Income Inequality and Redistribution in the Aftermath of the 2007-2008 Crisis: The U.S. Case," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(1), pages 77-114, March.
    43. Stéphane Auray & Aurélien Eyquem & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, 2022. "Markups, Taxes, and Rising Inequality," Working Papers 2022-18, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    44. David S. Lee, 1999. "Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 977-1023.
    45. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-858, December.
    46. Atkinson, A. B. & Piketty, Thomas (ed.), 2007. "Top Incomes Over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286881, December.
    47. Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Infante, Jose, 2018. "Behavioral responses to inheritance tax: Evidence from notches in France," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 21-34.
    48. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, 2019. "Income and Wealth Inequality in France: Developments and Links over the Long Term," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 510-511-5, pages 69-87.
    49. Camille Landais & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Pour une révolution fiscale : un impôt sur le revenu pour le XXIe siècle," Post-Print halshs-00754907, HAL.
    50. Kaymak, Barış & Poschke, Markus, 2016. "The evolution of wealth inequality over half a century: The role of taxes, transfers and technology," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-25.
    51. Holly Sutherland & Francesco Figari, 2013. "EUROMOD: the European Union tax-benefit microsimulation model," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 1(6), pages 4-26.
    52. Atkinson, A. B. & Piketty, Thomas (ed.), 2010. "Top Incomes: A Global Perspective," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286898, December.
    53. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 0. "Accounting for Wealth-Inequality Dynamics: Methods, Estimates, and Simulations for France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 620-663.
    54. Mirrlees, J. A., 1976. "Optimal tax theory : A synthesis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 327-358, November.
    55. Marc Morgan, 2017. "Extreme and Persistent Inequality: New Evidence for Brazil Combining National Accounts, Surveys and Fiscal Data, 2001-2015," Working Papers halshs-02794605, HAL.
    56. Per Krusell & Anthony Smith & Joachim Hubmer, 2015. "The historical evolution of the wealth distribution: A quantitative-theoretic investigation," 2015 Meeting Papers 1406, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    57. Jorrit Zwijnenburg & Sophie Bournot & Federico Giovannelli, 2017. "Expert Group on Disparities in a National Accounts Framework: Results from the 2015 Exercise," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2016/10, OECD Publishing.
    58. Pierre Courtioux & Vincent Lignon, 2017. "Décomposer les rendements privés de l’enseignement supérieur : une analyse par microsimulation dynamique du système socio-fiscal français," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(1), pages 69-94.
    59. Thomas Piketty, 2003. "Income Inequality in France, 1901-1998," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1004-1042, October.
    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. Aroop Chatterjee & Léo Czajka & Amory Gethin, 2021. "Can Redistribution Keep Up with Inequality? Evidence from South Africa, 1993-2019," Working Papers halshs-03364039, HAL.
    2. Mariam Camarero & Gilles Dufrénot & Cecilio Tamarit, 2021. "How do inequalities affect the natural interest rate, and how do they impact monetary policy? Comparing Germany, Japan and the US," Working Papers halshs-03191667, HAL.
    3. Bruno Bises & Francesco Bloise & Antonio ScialÃ, 2021. "Functional income distribution, inequality and the effectiveness of fiscal redistribution: evidence from OECD countries," Public Finance Research Papers 49, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    4. Carole Bonnet & Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz, 2022. "Does Part-Time Mothering Help Get a Job? The Role of Shared Custody in Women’s Employment," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 885-913, December.
    5. De Rosa, Mauricio & Flores, Ignacio & Morgan, Marc, 2022. "More Unequal or Not as Rich? Revisiting the Latin American Exception," SocArXiv akq89, Center for Open Science.
    6. Huet-Vaughn, Emiliano, 2023. "Minimum Wages and Voting: Assessing the Political Returns to Redistribution outside the Tax System," IZA Discussion Papers 16416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2022. "Twenty Years and Counting: Thoughts about Measuring the Upper Tail," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 255-264, March.
    8. Bruno Bises & Francesco Bloise & Antonio Scialà, 2024. "Labor share as an "automatic stabilizer" of income inequality," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(2), pages 511-532, April.
    9. François, Martin & Mertens de Wilmars, Sybille & Maréchal, Kevin, 2023. "Unlocking the potential of income and wealth caps in post-growth transformation: A framework for improving policy design," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).

    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. Bartels, Charlotte & Waldenström, Daniel, 2021. "Inequality and top incomes," GLO Discussion Paper Series 959, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Piketty, Thomas, 2018. "Income inequality in France, 1900–2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 63-77.
    3. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102834, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    5. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    6. Antoine Bozio & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Malka Guillot & Thomas Piketty, 2018. "Inequality and Redistribution in France, 1990-2018: Evidence from Post-Tax Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Working Papers hal-02878151, HAL.
    7. Facundo Alvaredo & Lydia Assouad & Thomas Piketty, 2019. "Measuring lnequality in the Middle East 1990–2016: The World’s Most Unequal Region?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(4), pages 685-711, December.
    8. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102814, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," CEP Discussion Papers dp1628, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Thomas Blanchet & Ignacio Flores & Marc Morgan, 2022. "The weight of the rich: improving surveys using tax data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 119-150, March.
    11. Muhammed Abdul Khalid & Li Yang, 2019. "Income Inequality and Ethnic Cleavages in Malaysia: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (1984-2014)," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876992, HAL.
    12. Muhammed Abdul Khalid & Li Yang, 2019. "Income Inequality and Ethnic Cleavages in Malaysia: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (1984-2014)," Working Papers hal-02876992, HAL.
    13. Nora Lustig, 2019. "The “Missing Rich” in Household Surveys: Causes and Correction Approaches," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 75, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    14. Piketty, Thomas & Alvaredo, Facundo & Assouad, Lydia, 2017. "Measuring inequality in the Middle East 1990-2016: The World’s Most Unequal Region?," CEPR Discussion Papers 12405, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Lucas Chancel, 2019. "Ten facts about income inequality in advanced economies," Working Papers hal-02876982, HAL.
    16. Thomas Blanchet & Juliette Fournier & Thomas Piketty, 2022. "Generalized Pareto Curves: Theory and Applications," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 263-288, March.
    17. Filip Novokmet & Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "From Soviets to oligarchs: inequality and property in Russia 1905-2016," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 189-223, June.
    18. Facundo Alvaredo & Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2017. "Global Inequality Dynamics: New Findings from WID.world," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 404-409, May.
    19. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110221, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Sean E. Mulholland, 2019. "Stratification by regulation: Are bootleggers and Baptists biased?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 105-130, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; redistribution; predistribution; taxes; transfers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:gat:wpaper:2209. 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: Nelly Wirth (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gateefr.html .

    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.