Income inequality, utility, and optimal income taxation

Kemper Moreland ()
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Kemper Moreland: Eastern Michigan University

Economics Bulletin, 2019, vol. 39, issue 1, 656-661

Abstract: Income inequality has increasingly become a concern for politicians, voters, and economists. Lively debates arise on how the tax and welfare system can reduce this income inequality. Economists studying optimal income tax design, however, search for the properties of a tax system that maximizes a social welfare function dependent upon individuals' utilities. This study analyzes policy differences and the social cost resulting from policymakers searching to reduce income inequality rather than utility inequality.

Keywords: income inequality; welfare; optimal income tax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 H2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-03-19
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