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Personal income tax progressivity and output volatility: Evidence from OECD countries

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  • Rieth, Malte
  • Checherita-Westphal, Cristina
  • Attinasi, Maria-Grazia

Abstract

This paper investigates empirically the effect of personal income tax progressivity on output volatility using macro data from a sample of OECD countries over the period 1982–2009. Our measure of progressivity is based on the difference between the marginal and the average personal income tax rate for the average production worker. We find supportive empirical evidence for the hypothesis that higher personal income tax progressivity leads to lower output volatility. This effect comes in addition to the stabilizing impact of government size and it is equally important in economic terms. All other factors constant, countries with more progressive personal income tax systems seem to benefit from stronger automatic stabilizers.

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  • Rieth, Malte & Checherita-Westphal, Cristina & Attinasi, Maria-Grazia, 2016. "Personal income tax progressivity and output volatility: Evidence from OECD countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 49(3), pages 968-996.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:200983
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12221
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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