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Taxation and Redistribution of Residual Income Inequality

Author

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  • Mikhail Golosov

    () (Department of Economics, Princeton University and NBER)

  • Pricila Maziero

    () (Department of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Guido Menzio

    () (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

This paper studies the optimal redistribution of income inequality caused by the presence of search and matching frictions in the labor market. We study this problem in the context of a directed search model of the labor market populated by homogenous workers and heterogeneous firms. The optimal redistribution can be attained using a positive unemployment benefit and an increasing and regressive labor income tax. The positive unemployment benefit serves the purpose of lowering the search risk faced by workers. The increasing and regressive labor tax serves the purpose of aligning the cost to the firm of attracting an additional applicant with the value of an application to society.

Suggested Citation

  • Mikhail Golosov & Pricila Maziero & Guido Menzio, 2012. "Taxation and Redistribution of Residual Income Inequality," PIER Working Paper Archive 12-022, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:12-022
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jian Xin Heng & Benoit Julien & John Kennes & Ian King, 2016. "Job Qualities, Search Unemployment, and Public Policy," Discussion Papers Series 570, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    2. Casey Rothschild & Florian Scheuer, 2016. "Optimal Taxation with Rent-Seeking," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 83(3), pages 1225-1262.
    3. Kory Kroft & Kucko Kavan & Etienne Lehmann & Johannes Schmieder, 2015. "Optimal Income Taxation with Unemployment and Wage Responses: A Sufficient Statistics Approach," Working Papers hal-01292126, HAL.
    4. Yong Tao & Xiangjun Wu & Tao Zhou & Weibo Yan & Yanyuxiang Huang & Han Yu & Benedict Mondal & Victor M. Yakovenko, 2016. "Exponential Structure of Income Inequality: Evidence from 67 Countries," Papers 1612.01624, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2017.
    5. Athanasios Geromichalos, 2012. "Unemployment Insurance and Optimal Taxation in Search Models of the Labor Market," Working Papers 1218, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    6. Athanasios Geromichalos, 2015. "Unemployment Insurance and Optimal Taxation in a Search Model of the Labor Market," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(2), pages 365-380, April.
    7. Yan Ji, 2017. "Job Search under Debt: Aggregate Implications of Student Loans," 2017 Meeting Papers 222, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Wang, Cheng & Williamson, Stephen D., 2002. "Moral hazard, optimal unemployment insurance, and experience rating," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(7), pages 1337-1371, October.
    9. Jean-Baptiste Michau, 2013. "On the Provision of Insurance Against Search-Induced Wage Fluctuations," Working Papers hal-00850547, HAL.
    10. Pei, Yun & Xie, Zoe, 2016. "A Quantitative Theory of Time-Consistent Unemployment Insurance," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2016-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, revised 01 Dec 2017.
    11. Javier Fernandez-Blanco, 2017. "Unemployment Risks and Intra-Household Insurance," 2017 Meeting Papers 478, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Guerrieri, Veronica & Julien, Benoit & Kircher, Philipp & Wright, Randall, 2017. "Directed Search: A Guided Tour," CEPR Discussion Papers 12315, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Mohammad Davoodalhosseini, 2017. "Constrained Efficiency with Adverse Selection and Directed Search," Staff Working Papers 17-15, Bank of Canada.
    14. Jan Eeckhout, 2013. "Unemployment Risk and the Distribution of Assets," 2013 Meeting Papers 337, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Tao, Yong & Wu, Xiangjun & Li, Changshuai, 2017. "Rawls' fairness, income distribution and alarming level of Gini coefficient," Economics Discussion Papers 2017-67, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW).
    16. Pei, Yun & Xie, Zoe, 2016. "Government Commitment and Unemployment Insurance Over the Business Cycle," MPRA Paper 76563, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment benefit; Income tax; Search frictions; Mechanism design;

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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