Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/82033 
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
EPRU Working Paper Series No. 2003-14
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
The so-called “fiscal policy approach predicts that increases in income skewness should be associated with an intensification of redistributive efforts, at least in democracies. If redistribution is detrimental to growth, then this implies that a poor middle class is bad for long-run productivity; a prediction which has found empirical support. However, cross-country studies tend to find a negative association between income skewness and the amount of redistribution taking place, and, a positive relationship between redistributive taxation and growth. This paper offers a reconciliation of the existing theory and these puzzling findings. Specifically, the model predicts that the traditionally stipulated chains of causality holds within countries, whereas the puzzling correlations mentioned above may arise across countries. We provide a test of our explanation and find support for our approach using data on income taxes, taxes on property and expenditures on education.
Subjects: 
income distribution
political economy
endogenous growth
JEL: 
D3
P16
O41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
383.95 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.