Redistribution, Horizontal Inequity, and Reranking: Direct Taxation in the UK, 1977–2020

Nicolas Herault () and Stephen Jenkins
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Nicolas Herault: University of Bordeaux

No 16587, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We decompose the redistributive effect of direct taxes into vertical, horizontal, and reranking components applying the methods of Urban and Lambert (Public Finance Review, 2008). In the first such application to the UK, and using yearly data covering 1977–2020, we find that redistributive effect increased over the period. However, there is no clear trend in horizontal inequity and this component forms a very small fraction of total redistributive effect by comparison with reranking and especially vertical components. It is also the vertical component that best tracks trends in redistributive effect. We give specific attention to the choice of the bandwidth used to define 'close equals' in terms of pre-tax income. We also show that implausible estimates of the horizontal inequity component arise for some years regardless of bandwidth used.

Keywords: reranking; Urban-Lambert decomposition; horizontal inequity; redistribution; redistributive effect; income tax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 H24 H50 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2023-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe
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Published - published in: Journal of Income Distribution, 2023, 32 (3-4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Redistribution, horizontal inequity, and reranking: direct taxation in the UK, 1977–2020 (2023)
Working Paper: Redistribution, horizontal inequity, and reranking: Direct taxation in the UK, 1977–2020 (2023)
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