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Intangible investment and Ramsey capital taxation

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  • Conesa, Juan C.
  • Domínguez, Begoña

Abstract

The standard analysis of optimal fiscal policy aggregates different types of assets into a unique capital good and all types of capital taxes into a unique capital tax. This paper considers a disaggregated framework: an economy with corporate and dividend taxes, where firms invest in both tangible and intangible assets (which can be expensed or sweat). In our setup, firms can always respond to changes in the timing of taxation. We find that the optimal long-run policy features zero corporate taxes and positive dividend taxes, with labor and dividend taxes being identical. Moreover, the initial capital levy is relatively small.

Suggested Citation

  • Conesa, Juan C. & Domínguez, Begoña, 2013. "Intangible investment and Ramsey capital taxation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(8), pages 983-995.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:moneco:v:60:y:2013:i:8:p:983-995
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2013.09.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ctirad Slavík & Hakki Yazici, 2019. "On the consequences of eliminating capital tax differentials," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(1), pages 225-252, February.
    3. Chari, V.V. & Nicolini, Juan Pablo & Teles, Pedro, 2020. "Optimal capital taxation revisited," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 147-165.
    4. Alexis Anagnostopoulos & Orhan Erem Atesagaoglu & Eva Cárceles‐Poveda, 2022. "Financing corporate tax cuts with shareholder taxes," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(1), pages 315-354, January.
    5. Juan Carlos Conesa & Begona Dominguez, 2020. "Capital Taxes and Redistribution: The Role of Management Time and Tax Deductible Investment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 156-172, July.
    6. Erosa, Andrés & González, Beatriz, 2019. "Taxation and the life cycle of firms," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 114-130.
    7. Thijs Van Rens & Marija Vukotić, 2023. "Delayed Adjustment and Persistence in Macroeconomic Models," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(6), pages 1325-1356, September.
    8. Davide Debortoli & Pedro Gomes, 2014. "Technological change and the decline of public investment," Economics Working Papers 1685, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    9. Simon Bösenberg & Peter Egger & Benedikt Zoller-Rydzek, 2018. "Capital taxation, investment, growth, and welfare," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(2), pages 325-376, April.
    10. Talukdar, Bidyut, 2017. "Learning-by-doing, organizational capital and optimal markup variations," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 39-47.
    11. Pedro Gomes & Davide Debortoli, 2012. "Labor and Profit Taxation, and the Supply of Public Capital," 2012 Meeting Papers 325, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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