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Measuring the Efficiency Cost of Taxing Risky Capital Income

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  • Gordon, Roger H
  • Wilson, John Douglas

Abstract

This paper derives a measure of the efficiency cost of taxing risky capital income in an infinite horizon stochastic model. The resulting expression differs from all those proposed in the existing literature. The correct measure of efficiency cost will normally be smaller than any of those used in policy studies, possibly dramatically so. Uncertainty changes the expression for efficiency cost through effects arising not only from stochastic capital gains on existing capital, but also from stochastic costs of replacing existing capital. The latter effect reduces efficiency costs and normally outweighs the first effect. Copyright 1989 by American Economic Association.

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  • Gordon, Roger H & Wilson, John Douglas, 1989. "Measuring the Efficiency Cost of Taxing Risky Capital Income," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 427-439, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:79:y:1989:i:3:p:427-39
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    Cited by:

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    2. Duanjie Chen & Guillermo Perry, 2010. "Mining Taxation in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 12562, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    3. Randall Morck & Masao Nakamura & Murray Frank, 2001. "Japanese Corporate Governance and Macroeconomic Problems," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Masao Nakamura (ed.), The Japanese Business and Economic System, chapter 12, pages 325-363, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Syed M. Ahsan & Panagiotis Tsigaris, 2009. "The Efficiency Loss of Capital Income Taxation under Imperfect Loss Offset Provisions," Public Finance Review, , vol. 37(6), pages 710-731, November.
    5. Lund, Diderik, 2006. "Taxation and systematic risk under decreasing returns to scale," Working Papers 02-2003, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    6. Roger Gordon & Laura Kalambokidis & Joel Slemrod, 2003. "A New Summary Measure of the Effective Tax Rate on Investment," NBER Working Papers 9535, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Devereux, Michael, 2003. "Taxing Risky Investment," CEPR Discussion Papers 4053, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Kenneth McKenzie & Jack Mintz, 1992. "Tax Effects on the Cost of Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Canada-U.S. Tax Comparisons, pages 189-216, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Katharina Finke & Jost H. Heckemeyer & Timo Reister & Christoph Spengel, 2013. "Impact of Tax-Rate Cut cum Base-Broadening Reforms on Heterogeneous Firms: Learning from the German Tax Reform of 2008," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 69(1), pages 72-114, March.
    10. Hlouskova, Jaroslava & Tsigaris, Panagiotis, 2020. "Capital income taxation under full loss offset provisions of a prospect theory investor," IHS Working Paper Series 11, Institute for Advanced Studies.
    11. Lans Bovenberg & Krister Anderson & Kenji Aramaki & Sheetal K. Chand, 1990. "Tax Incentives and International Capital Flows: The Case of the United States and Japan," NBER Chapters, in: Taxation in the Global Economy, pages 283-328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Bob Hamilton & Jack Mintz & John Whalley, 1991. "Decomposing the Welfare Costs of Capital Tax Distortions: The Importance of Risk Assumptions," NBER Working Papers 3628, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Lund, Diderik, 2009. "Marginal versus Average Beta of Equity under Corporate Taxation," Memorandum 12/2009, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    14. Syed M. Ahsan & Panagiotis Tsigaris, 2011. "The Utility Compensated Effects of a Wage Tax on Human Capital and Consumption Decisions," Public Finance Review, , vol. 39(4), pages 571-593, July.
    15. Kalina Koleva, 2005. "A la recherche de l'administration fiscale optimale : l'approche par les coûts d'efficience," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques r05050, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    16. Marika Santoro & Chao Wei, 2011. "Taxation, Investment and Asset Pricing," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(3), pages 443-454, July.
    17. Louis Kaplow, 1991. "Taxation and Risk Taking: A General Equilibrium Perspective," NBER Working Papers 3709, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Patric H. Hendershott, 1987. "Tax Reform and the Slope of the Playing Field," NBER Chapters, in: Taxes and Capital Formation, pages 51-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Kalina Koleva, 2005. "Seeking for an optimal tax administration: the efficiency costs’ approach [A la recherche de l'administration fiscale optimale : l'approche par les coûts d'efficience]," Post-Print halshs-00195354, HAL.
    20. Lund, Diderik, 2005. "An analytical model of required returns to equity under taxation with imperfect loss offset," Memorandum 13/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    21. Santoro, Marika & Wei, Chao, 2013. "The marginal welfare cost of capital taxation: Discounting matters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 897-909.
    22. Sara L. McGaughey & Pascalis Raimondos, 2019. "Shifting MNE taxation from national to global profits: A radical reform long overdue," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(9), pages 1668-1683, December.

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