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Contributions of taxes and benefits to vertical and horizontal effects

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  • Ivica Urban

Abstract

What are the relative contributions of taxes and benefits to the vertical and horizontal effects of the overall fiscal system? Interest in resolving this question was revived with the emergence of exhaustive micro-databases on household incomes that are consistently comparable across countries. However, although practitioners employ a plethora of different approaches, a completely appropriate measurement model for dissecting the contributions of taxes and benefits has not yet been developed. This paper is the first to present a systematic review of the different methods used in this field of research, and to identify their strengths and weaknesses. After the methods review, this paper introduces new decompositions of the redistributive effect into vertical and horizontal effects, based on Kakwani’s (In: Basmann RL, Rhodes GF (eds) Economics inequality: measurement and policy, pp 149–168, 1984 ) and Lerman and Yitzhaki’s (Rev Econ Stat 67:151–156, 1985 ) models, which are both widely accepted by researchers. Applications of the methodology to hypothetical and real-world data indicate the effectiveness and suitability of the new decompositions for use in cross-country comparisons of tax-benefit systems. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

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  • Ivica Urban, 2014. "Contributions of taxes and benefits to vertical and horizontal effects," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 42(3), pages 619-645, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:42:y:2014:i:3:p:619-645
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-013-0747-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Nolan, Matt, 2018. "Horizontal and Vertical Equity in the New Zealand Tax-Transfer System: 1988-2013," Working Paper Series 20838, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    2. Stefano Boscolo, 2021. "On the horizontal inequity effect of the erosion of the pit base: the case of Italy," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 43-82.
    3. Ivica Urban, 2016. "Impact of Taxes and Benefits on Inequality among Groups of Income Units," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(1), pages 120-144, March.
    4. Elvire Guillaud & Matthew Olckers & Michaël Zemmour, 2020. "Four Levers of Redistribution: The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Inequality Reduction," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 444-466, June.
    5. Luis Huesca, 2017. "Income redistribution and inequality in the Mexican tax-benefit system," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 36(72), October.
    6. Ivica Urban & Martina Pezer, 2020. "Compensation for Households with Children in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 203-235, January.
    7. Urban, Ivica, 2017. "Measuring income redistribution: beyond the proportionality standard," EUROMOD Working Papers EM1/17, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    8. Paolo Caro, 2020. "Decomposing Personal Income Tax Redistribution with Application to Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(1), pages 113-129, March.
    9. Nanak Kakwani & Hyun Hwa Son, 2021. "Normative Measures of Tax Progressivity: an International Comparison," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(1), pages 185-212, March.
    10. Mitja Čok & Ivica Urban & Miroslav Verbič, 2013. "Income Redistribution through Taxes and Social Benefits: The Case of Slovenia and Croatia," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 60(5), pages 667-686.
    11. Slavko Bezeredi & Marko Ledić & Ivica Rubil & Ivica Urban, 2019. "Making work pay in Croatia: An ex-ante evaluation of two in-work benefits using miCROmod," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 12(3), pages 28-61.
    12. Nolan, Matt, 2018. "Horizontal and Vertical Equity in the New Zealand Tax-Transfer System: 1988-2013," Working Paper Series 7657, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    13. Mitja ÄŒok & Ivica Urban & Miroslav VerbiÄ, 2013. "Income Redistribution through Taxes and Social Benefits: The Case of Slovenia and Croatia," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 60(5), pages 667-686, September.
    14. Boscolo, Stefano, 2019. "The contribution of proportional taxes and tax-free cash benefits to income redistribution over the period 2005-2018: Evidence from Italy," EUROMOD Working Papers EM18/19, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    15. Stefano Boscolo, 2020. "On the Horizontal Inequity Effect of the Erosion of the PIT Base: The Case of Italy," Department of Economics 0176, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    16. Stefano Boscolo, 2022. "The contribution of tax-benefit instruments to income redistribution in Italy," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 181-231.
    17. Stefano Boscolo, 2019. "The Contribution of Proportional Taxes and Tax-Free Cash Benefits to Income Redistribution over the Period 2005-2018: Evidence from Italy," Department of Economics 0152, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".

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