Can taxation predict US top-wealth share dynamics?

Gregor Böhl and Thomas Fischer
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Gregor Boehl

No 118, IMFS Working Paper Series from Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS)

Abstract: The level of capital tax gains has high explanatory power regarding the question of what drives economic inequality. On this basis, the authors develop a simple, yet micro-founded portfolio selection model to explain the dynamics of wealth inequality given empirical tax series in the US. The results emphasize that the level and the transition of speed of wealth inequality depend crucially on the degree of capital taxation. The projections predict that - continuing on the present path of capital taxation in the US - the gap between rich and poor is expected to shrink whereas "massive" tax cuts will further increase the degree of wealth concentration.

Keywords: wealth inequality; US top-wealth shares; capital taxation; Fokker-Planck equation; Kalman Filter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 G11 H23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:imfswp:118

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