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Inégalité de patrimoine et progressivité de l'impôt

Author

Listed:
  • Audrey Desbonnet

    (Universität Wien = University of Vienna)

  • Jean-Olivier Hairault

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor)

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of the progressivity of income and inheritance tax on wealth inequality in France. By switching to a proportional tax system for each type of tax, we find that income-tax progressivity is more effective than inheritance-tax progressivity in reducing wealth inequality. Income-tax progressivity reduces income risk. The precautionary saving of the wealthiest agents decreases and wealth inequality narrows. Inheritance-tax progressivity does not modify income risk significantly. We also show that inheritance-tax progressivity - unlike income-tax progressivity - is inefficient for reducing income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Audrey Desbonnet & Jean-Olivier Hairault, 2010. "Inégalité de patrimoine et progressivité de l'impôt," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00519050, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-00519050
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00519050
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wealth inequality; tax progressivity; income; inheritance; inégalité de patrimoine; progressivité de l'impôt; revenu; succession;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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