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Poverty Alleviation and Tax Policy

Author

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  • Jukka Pirttilä
  • Matti Tuomala

    (School of Management, University of Tampere)

Abstract

This paper examines public good provision and tax policy ­ optimal non-linear income taxation and linear commodity taxation ­ when the government departs from purely welfarist objective function and seeks to minimise poverty. This assumption reflects much policy discussion and may help understand some divergences of practical tax policy from lessons in optimal tax analysis. In contrast to Atkinson and Stiglitz (1976), it may be optimal to use differentiated commodity tax rates, including the taxation of savings, even if preferences are separable in goods and leisure. The optimal effective marginal tax rate at the bottom of the distribution may be negative, suggesting that wage subsidy schemes can be optimal. Finally, optimal provision rules are derived for a public good under poverty minimisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2003. "Poverty Alleviation and Tax Policy," Working Papers 0315, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tam:wpaper:0315
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    File URL: http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:951-44-5673-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stéphane Gauthier & Taraneh Tabatabai, 2019. "How incentives matter? An illustration from the targeted subsidies reform in Iran," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 52(1), pages 97-125, January.
    2. Ravi Kanbur & Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2006. "Non‐Welfarist Optimal Taxation And Behavioural Public Economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 849-868, December.
    3. Pertti Haaparanta & Ravi Kanbur & Tuuli Paukkeri & Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2022. "Promoting education under distortionary taxation: equality of opportunity versus welfarism," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(2), pages 281-297, June.
    4. European Commission, 2011. "Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2011: tax policy challenges for economic growth and fiscal sustainability," Taxation Papers 28, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    5. Erwin Ooghe, 2020. "Conditional Earnings Subsidies for Low Earners," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(2), pages 524-552, April.
    6. Normann Lorenz & Dominik Sachs, 2012. "Optimal Participation Taxes and Efficient Transfer Phase-Out," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2012-37, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    7. Paukkeri, Tuuli, 2018. "Essays on public economics," Research Reports P72, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Ravi Kanbur & Tuuli Paukkeri & Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2018. "Optimal taxation and public provision for poverty reduction," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 64-98, February.
    9. Aronsson, Thomas & Bastani, Spencer & Tayibov, Khayyam, 2021. "Social Exclusion and Optimal Redistribution," Umeå Economic Studies 1004, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    10. Ravi Kanbur & Tuuli Paukkeri & Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2018. "Optimal taxation and public provision for poverty reduction," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 64-98, February.
    11. Ravi Kanbur & Matti Tuomala, 2013. "Relativity, Inequality, And Optimal Nonlinear Income Taxation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1199-1217, November.
    12. David Madden & Michael Savage, 2020. "Which households matter most? Capturing equity considerations in tax reform via generalised social marginal welfare weights," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 153-193, February.
    13. Maniquet, François & Neumann, Dirk, 2016. "Well-Being, Poverty and Labor Income Taxation: Theory and Application to Europe and the U.S," IZA Discussion Papers 10181, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Marcelo Arbex & Enlinson Mattos, 2010. "Poverty and the Optimal General Income Tax-cum-Audit Policy," Working Papers 02-2010, Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto.
    15. Obara Takuya & Tsugawa Shuichi, 2019. "Public Good Provision Financed by Nonlinear Income Tax Under Reduction of Envy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, October.
    16. Obara, Takuya & 小原, 拓也 & Tsugawa, Shuichi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2019. "Envy-free Pricing for Impure Public Good," CCES Discussion Paper Series 69, Center for Research on Contemporary Economic Systems, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    17. Paolo Giovanni Piacquadio, 2020. "Poverty and Individual Responsibility," CESifo Working Paper Series 8169, CESifo.
    18. Xi CHEN & Ioana SALAGEAN & Benteng ZOU, 2016. "Optimal Income Taxation for the Alleviation of Working-Poverty When Domestic Work is Rewarded," DEM Discussion Paper Series 16-01, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    19. Peter Mikek, 2023. "Financial deepening and income inequality: is there a financial Kuznetz curve in Latin America?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(1), pages 103-125, March.
    20. Gerritsen, Aart, 2016. "Optimal taxation when people do not maximize well-being," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 122-139.
    21. Arbex Marcelo & Mattos Enlinson & Trudeau Christian, 2012. "Poverty, Informality and the Optimal General Income Tax Policy," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, July.
    22. David (David Patrick) Madden & Michael Savage, 2015. "Which Households Matter Most? Capturing Equity Considerations in Tax Reform via Generalised Social Marginal Welfare Weights," Working Papers 201502, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    povery; income taxation; commodity taxation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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