IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/8978.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Distribution of Tax Burdens: An Introduction

Author

Listed:
  • Gilbert E. Metcalf
  • Don Fullerton

Abstract

This paper summarizes important developments in tax incidence analysis over the past forty years. We mark the date of the beginning of modern tax incidence analysis with the publication of Harberger (1962) and discuss the relation of subsequent work to this seminal paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert E. Metcalf & Don Fullerton, 2002. "The Distribution of Tax Burdens: An Introduction," NBER Working Papers 8978, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8978
    Note: PE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w8978.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Auerbach, Alan J & Kotlikoff, Laurence J & Skinner, Jonathan, 1983. "The Efficiency Gains from Dynamic Tax Reform," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 24(1), pages 81-100, February.
    2. Poterba, James M, 1989. "Lifetime Incidence and the Distributional Burden of Excise Taxes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 325-330, May.
    3. Delipalla, Sofia & Keen, Michael, 1992. "The comparison between ad valorem and specific taxation under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 351-367, December.
    4. R. A. Musgrave, 1953. "On Incidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 61(4), pages 306-306.
    5. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    6. Arnold C. Harberger, 1962. "The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(3), pages 215-215.
    7. Martin Feldstein, 1974. "Incidence of a Capital Income Tax in a Growing Economy with Variable Savings Rates," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(4), pages 505-513.
    8. Kay, J. A. & Keen, M. J., 1983. "How should commodities be taxed? : Market structure, product heterogeneity and the optimal structure of commodity taxes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 339-358, September.
    9. Summers, Lawrence H, 1981. "Capital Taxation and Accumulation in a Life Cycle Growth Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 533-544, September.
    10. Dickert, Stacy & Houser, Scott & Scholz, John Karl, 1994. "Taxes and the Poor: A Microsimulation Study of Implicit and Explicit Taxes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(3), pages 621-638, September.
    11. Robin Boadway, 1979. "Long-run Tax Incidence: A Comparative Dynamic Approach," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 46(3), pages 505-511.
    12. Seade, J., 1985. "Profitable Cost Increases and the Shifting of Taxation: Equilibrium Responses of Markets in Oligopoly," Economic Research Papers 269225, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    13. Oates, Wallace E, 1969. "The Effects of Property Taxes and Local Public Spending on Property Values: An Empirical Study of Tax Capitalization and the Tiebout Hypothesis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(6), pages 957-971, Nov./Dec..
    14. Aaron, Henry, 1974. "A New View of Property Tax Incidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(2), pages 212-221, May.
    15. Fullerton, Don & Rogers, Diane Lim, 1991. "Lifetime Versus Annual Perspectives on Tax Incidence," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 44(3), pages 277-287, September.
    16. Martin S. Feldstein, 1974. "Tax Incidence in a Growing Economy with Variable Factor Supply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 88(4), pages 551-573.
    17. Fullerton, Don & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2002. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 26, pages 1787-1872, Elsevier.
    18. Nicholas Bull & Kevin A. Hassett & Gilbert E. Metcalf, 1994. "Who Pays Broad-Based Energy Taxes? Computing Lifetime and Regional Incidence," The Energy Journal, , vol. 15(3), pages 145-164, July.
    19. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    20. Michael L. Katz & Harvey S. Rosen, 1985. "Tax Analysis in an Oligopoly Model," Public Finance Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 3-20, January.
    21. Vandendorpe, Adolf L. & Friedlaender, Ann F., 1976. "Differential incidence in the presence of initial distorting taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 205-229, October.
    22. George R. Zodrow, 2019. "The Property Tax as a Capital Tax: A Room with Three Views," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 15, pages 461-487, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    23. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 1993. "The Lifetime Incidence of State and Local Taxes: Measuring Changes During the 1980s," NBER Working Papers 4252, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1981. "A Note on Dynamic Tax Incidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(4), pages 705-723.
    25. Richard A. Musgrave & Karl E. Case & Herman Leonard, 1974. "The Distribution of Fiscal Burdens and Benefits," Public Finance Review, , vol. 2(3), pages 259-311, July.
    26. Bruce W. Hamilton, 1975. "Zoning and Property Taxation in a System of Local Governments," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 205-211, June.
    27. Mieszkowski, Peter, 1972. "The property tax: An excise tax or a profits tax?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 73-96, April.
    28. D. B. Suits & R. A. Musgrave, 1953. "Ad Valorem and Unit Taxes Compared," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 67(4), pages 598-604.
    29. Bradford, David F., 1978. "Factor prices may be constant but factor returns are not," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 199-203.
    30. David Altig, 2001. "Simulating Fundamental Tax Reform in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 574-595, June.
    31. Mieszkowski, Peter & Zodrow, George R, 1989. "Taxation and the Tiebout Model: The Differential Effects of Head Taxes, Taxes on Land Rents, and Property Taxes," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 1098-1146, September.
    32. Fullerton, Don & Rogers, Diane Lim, 1991. "Lifetime Versus Annual Perspectives on Tax Incidence," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 44(3), pages 277-87, September.
    33. Judd, Kenneth L., 1985. "Redistributive taxation in a simple perfect foresight model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 59-83, October.
    34. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring.
    35. Shoven, John B, 1976. "The Incidence and Efficiency Effects of Taxes on Income from Capital," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(6), pages 1261-1283, December.
    36. Devarajan, Shantayanan & Fullerton, Don & Musgrave, Richard A., 1980. "Estimating the distribution of tax burdens : A comparison of different approaches," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 155-182, April.
    37. Besley, Timothy & Suzumura, Kotaro, 1992. "Taxation and Welfare in an Oligopoly with Strategic Commitment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 33(2), pages 413-431, May.
    38. Shoven, John B & Whalley, John, 1984. "Applied General-Equilibrium Models of Taxation and International Trade: An Introduction and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1007-1051, September.
    39. Robert L. Bishop, 1968. "The Effects of Specific and Ad Valorem Taxes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 82(2), pages 198-218.
    40. Seade, J, 1985. "Profitable Cost Increases and the Shifting of Taxation : Equilibrium Response of Markets in Oligopoly," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 260, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    41. McLure, Charles E, Jr, 1974. "A Diagrammatic Exposition of the Harberger Model with One Immobile Factor," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 56-82, Jan.-Feb..
    42. Zodrow, George R., 2001. "The Property Tax as a Capital Tax: A Room with Three Views," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 54(n. 1), pages 139-56, March.
    43. Besley, Timothy, 1989. "Commodity taxation and imperfect competition : A note on the effects of entry," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 359-367, December.
    44. Herbert A. Simon, 1943. "The Incidence of a Tax on Urban Real Property," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 57(3), pages 398-420.
    45. Stern, Nicholas, 1987. "The effects of taxation, price control and government contracts in oligopoly and monopolistic competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 133-158, March.
    46. Davies, James B & St-Hilaire, France & Whalley, John, 1984. "Some Calculations of Lifetime Tax Incidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 633-649, September.
    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. European Commission, 2005. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2005 edition," Taxation trends 2005, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    2. European Commission, 2010. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2010 edition," Taxation trends 2010, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    3. European Commission, 2002. "Structure of the taxation systems in the European Union: 2002 edition," Taxation trends 2002, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    4. Brian Roach, "undated". "Progressive and Regressive Taxation in the United States: Who’s Really Paying (and Not Paying) their Fair Share?," GDAE Working Papers 03-10, GDAE, Tufts University.
    5. Stanislav Klazar & Barbora Slintáková, 2012. "How Progressive is the Czech Pension Security?," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(3), pages 309-327.
    6. Roach, Brian A., 2003. "Progressive and Regressive Taxation in the United States: Who's Really Paying (and Not Paying) Their Fair Share?," Working Papers 15603, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    7. Brian Roach, "undated". "Progressive and Regressive Taxation in the United States: Who’s Really Paying (and Not Paying) their Fair Share?," GDAE Working Papers 10-07, GDAE, Tufts University.
    8. European Commission, 2008. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2008 edition," Taxation trends 2008, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    9. Lesia Tkachyk & Mariya Rubakha & Nataliia Ilkiv, 2020. "Optimization of Corporate Profit Taxation in the Context of Stimulating Their Investment Activity: The Case of Ukraine," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 28-51.
    10. European Commission, 2006. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2006 edition," Taxation trends 2006, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    11. Roach, Brian, 2010. "Progressive and Regressive Taxation in the United States: Who’s Really Paying (and Not Paying) their Fair Share?," Working Papers 179091, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    12. European Commission, 2011. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2011 edition," Taxation trends 2011, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    13. European Commission, 2009. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2009 edition," Taxation trends 2009, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    14. European Commission, 2007. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2007 edition," Taxation trends 2007, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    15. Petr David, 2019. "Optimization of Gini Coefficient Affected by Imperfect Input Data," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 21-29.

    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. Don Fullerton & Gilbert Metcalf, 2002. "The Distribution of Tax Burdens," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0201, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    2. Fullerton, Don & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2002. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 26, pages 1787-1872, Elsevier.
    3. Dillon Alleyne, 2007. "The Evolution of Jamaica’s Tax Burden," Public Finance Review, , vol. 35(1), pages 150-171, January.
    4. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hines, James Jr., 2002. "Taxation and economic efficiency," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 21, pages 1347-1421, Elsevier.
    5. Fehr, Hans, 1999. "Welfare Effects of Dynamic Tax Reforms," Beiträge zur Finanzwissenschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, edition 1, volume 5, number urn:isbn:9783161470165, September.
    6. George R. Zodrow, 2019. "Intrajurisdictional Capitalization and the Incidence of the Property Tax," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 16, pages 489-522, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Sung Hoon Kang & Mark Skidmore & Laura Reese, 2015. "The Effects of Changes in Property Tax Rates and School Spending on Residential and Business Property Value Growth," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 300-333, June.
    8. Stamatopoulos, Giorgos, 2019. "A strategic tax mechanism," MPRA Paper 93602, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Panayiota Lyssiotou & Elena Savva, 2021. "Who pays taxes on basic foodstuffs? Evidence from broadening the VAT base," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(1), pages 212-247, February.
    10. Zodrow, George R., 2001. "The Property Tax as a Capital Tax: A Room with Three Views," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 54(n. 1), pages 139-56, March.
    11. David E. Wildasin, 2006. "Global Competition for Mobile Resources: Implications for Equity, Efficiency and Political Economy," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 52(1), pages 61-110, March.
    12. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre & Kreider, Brent, 2001. "The efficiency of indirect taxes under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 231-251, August.
    13. George R. Zodrow, 2007. "The Property Tax Incidence Debate and the Mix of State and Local Finance of Local Public Expenditures," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 53(4), pages 495-521, December.
    14. Carbonnier, Clément, 2014. "The incidence of non-linear price-dependent consumption taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 111-119.
    15. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & George R. Zodrow, 2012. "Revisiting the Excise Tax Effects of the Property Tax: Working Paper 2012-05," Working Papers 42926, Congressional Budget Office.
    16. Hamilton, Stephen F., 1999. "Tax incidence under oligopoly: a comparison of policy approaches," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 233-245, February.
    17. Agostini, Claudio A. & Jiménez, Johanna, 2015. "The distributional incidence of the gasoline tax in Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 243-252.
    18. Zodrow, George R. & Diamond, John W., 2013. "Dynamic Overlapping Generations Computable General Equilibrium Models and the Analysis of Tax Policy: The Diamond–Zodrow Model," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 743-813, Elsevier.
    19. Devereux, Michael P. & Lanot, Gauthier, 2003. "Measuring tax incidence: an application to mortgage provision in the UK," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1747-1778, August.
    20. George R. Zodrow, 2019. "The Property Tax as a Capital Tax: A Room with Three Views," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 15, pages 461-487, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents

    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:nbr:nberwo:8978. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.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.