1
Chapter 12 – Taxation and
Income Distribution
Public Economics
2
Introduction
? Many policies center around whether the
tax burden is distributed fairly.
? Not as simple as analyzing how much in
taxes each person actually paid,because
of tax-induced changes to price.
3
Introduction
? Two main concepts of how a tax is
distributed:
– Statutory incidence – who is legally
responsible for tax
– Economic incidence – the true change in
the distribution of income induced by tax.
– These two concepts differ because of tax
shifting.
4
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Only people can bear taxes
– Business paying their fair share simply shifts
the tax burden to different people
– Can study people whose total income
consists of different proportions of labor
earnings,capital income,and so on.
– Sometimes appropriate to study incidence of
a tax across regions.
5
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Both Sources and Uses of Income should
be considered
– Tax affects consumers,workers in industry,
and owners
– Economists often ignore the sources side
6
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Incidence depends on how prices are
determined
– Industry structure matters
– Short- versus long-run responses
7
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Incidence depends on disposition of tax
revenue
– Balanced budget incidence computes the combined
effects of levying taxes and government spending
financed by those taxes.
– Differential tax incidence compares the incidence of
one tax to another,ignoring how the money is spent,
? Often the comparison tax is a lump sum tax – a tax
that does not depend on a person’s behavior.
8
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Tax progressiveness can be measured in
a number of ways
– A tax is often classified as:
? Progressive
? Regressive
? Proportional
– Proportional taxes are straightforward,ratio
of taxes to income is constant regardless of
income level.
9
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Can define progressive (and regressive)
taxes in a number of ways.
? Can compute in terms of
– Average tax rate (ratio of total taxes total
income) or
– Marginal tax rate (tax rate on last dollar of
income)
10
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Measuring how progressive a tax system is
present additional difficulties,Consider two simple
definitions.
– The first one says that the greater the increase in
average tax rates as income rises,the more progressive
is the system.
v
I I
T
I
T
I
1
1 0
1
1
0
0?
?
?
11
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
– The second one says a tax system is more progressive
if its elasticity of tax revenues with respect to income is
higher.
– Recall that an elasticity is defined in terms of percent
change in one variable with respect to percent change in
another one:
? ?
? ?
v
T
I
T T
T
I I
I
2
1 0
0
1 0
0
? ?
?
?
%
%
?
?
12
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? These two measures,both of which make
intuitive sense,may lead to different
answers.
? Example,increasing all taxpayer’s liability
by 20%
13
Partial Equilibrium Models
? Partial equilibrium models only examine
the market in which the tax is imposed,
and ignores other markets.
? Most appropriate when the taxed
commodity is small relative to the
economy as a whole.
14
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Unit taxes are levied as a fixed amount
per unit of commodity sold
– Federal tax on cigarettes,for example,is 39
cents per pack.
? Assume perfect competition,Then the
initial equilibrium is determined as (Q0,P0)
in Figure 12.1.
Figure 12.1
16
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Next,impose a per-unit tax of $u in this
market.
– Key insight,In the presence of a tax,the
price paid by consumers and price received
by producers differ.
– Before,the supply-and-demand system was
used to determine a single price; now there is
a separate price for each.
17
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? How does the tax affect the demand schedule?
– Consider point a in Figure 12.1,Pa is the maximum
price consumers would pay for Qa.
– The willingness-to-pay by demanders does NOT
change when a tax is imposed on them,Instead,the
demand curve as perceived by producers changes.
– Producers perceive they could receive only (Pa–u) if
they supplied Qa,That is,suppliers perceive that the
demand curve shifts down to point b in Figure 12.1.
18
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Performing this thought experiment for all
quantities leads to a new,perceived
demand curve shown in Figure 12.2.
? This new demand curve,Dc’,is relevant
for suppliers because it shows how much
they receive for each unit sold.
Figure 12.2
20
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Equilibrium now consists of a new
quantity and two prices (one paid by
demanders,and the other received by
suppliers).
– The supplier’s price (Pn) is determined by the
new demand curve and the old supply curve.
– The demander’s price Pg=Pn+u.
– Quantity Q1 is obtained by either D(Pg) or
S(Pn).
21
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Tax revenue is equal to uQ1,or area kfhn
in Figure 12.2.
? The economic incidence of the tax is split
between the demanders and suppliers
– Price demanders face goes up from P0 to Pg,
which (in this case) is less than the statutory
tax,u.
22
Numerical Example
? Suppose the market for champagne is
characterized by the following supply and demand
curves:
Q P
Q P
S
D
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
23
Numerical Example
? If the government imposes a per-unit tax on
demanders of $8 per unit,the tax creates a wedge
between what demanders pay and suppliers get,
Before the tax,we can rewrite the system as:
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D
? ?
? ?
?
20 2
100 2
24
Numerical Example
? After the tax,suppliers receive $8 less per pack
than demanders pay,Therefore:
P P
P P
S D D
S D
? ?
? ?
?
8
25
Numerical Example
? Solving the initial system (before the tax) gives a
price of P=20 and Q=60,Solving the system after
the tax gives:
? ?Q Q P P
P P Q
S D D D
D S
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ?
20 2 8 100 2
24 16 52,,
26
Numerical Example
? In this case,the statutory incidence falls 100% on
the demanders,but the economic incidence is
50% on demanders and 50% on suppliers:
P PD ?
?
?
?0 0 5
?
$24 $20
$8
.
27
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? Incidence of a unit tax is independent of
whether it is levied on consumers or producers.
? If the tax were levied on producers,the supplier
curve as perceived by consumers would shift
upward.
– This means that consumers perceive it is more
expensive for the firms to provide any given quantity.
? This is illustrated in Figure 12.3.
Figure 12.3
29
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? In our previous numerical example,the tax on
demanders led to the following relationship:
P P P PS D D S D? ? ? ? ?? 8
? If we instead taxed suppliers,this relationship
would instead be:
P P P P P PD S S D S S D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? 8 8
30
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? Clearly,these equations identical to each other,
The same quantity and prices will emerge as
before.
? Implication,The statutory incidence of a tax tells
us nothing about the economic incidence of it.
? The tax wedge is defined as the difference
between the price paid by consumers and price
received by producers.
31
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Elasticities
? Incidence of a unit tax depends on the
elasticities of supply and demand.
? In general,the more elastic the demand curve,
the less of the tax is borne by consumers,
ceteris paribus.
– Elasticities provide a measure of an economic
agent’s ability to,escape” the tax.
– The more elastic the demand,the easier it is for
consumers to turn to other products when the price
goes up,Thus,suppliers must bear more of tax.
32
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Elasticities
? Figures 12.4 and 12.5 illustrate two extreme
cases.
– Figure 12.4 shows a perfectly inelastic supply curve
– Figure 12.5 shows a perfectly elastic supply curve
? In the first case,the price consumers pay does
not change.
? In the second case,the price consumers pay
increases by the full amount of the tax.
Figure 12.4
Figure 12.5
35
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? An ad-valorem tax is a tax with a rate given in
proportion to the price.
? A good example is the sales tax.
? Graphical analysis is fairly similar to the case
we had before.
? Instead of moving the demand curve down by
the same absolute amount for each quantity,
move it down by the same proportion.
36
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? Figure 12.7 shows an ad-valorem tax
levied on demanders.
? As with the per-unit tax,the demand
curve as perceived by suppliers has
changed,and the same analysis is used
to find equilibrium quantity and prices.
Figure 12.7
38
Numerical Example
? Returning to our previous example,with a per-unit
tax on demanders the system was written as:
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D D
? ?
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
?
39
Numerical Example
? Now,with an ad-valorem tax (τD),the system is
written as:
? ?
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D D
? ?
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
1 ?
40
Numerical Example
? If the ad-valorem tax on demanders was 10%,
then relationship between prices is:
? ?
P P
Q Q P P
P P Q
S D
S D D D
D S
? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ?
0 9
20 2 0 9 100 2
21 05 18 95 57 89
.
.
.,.,.
41
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? The payroll tax,which pays for Social Security
and Medicare,is an ad-valorem tax on a factor
of production – labor.
? Statutory incidence is split evenly with a total of
15.3%.
? The statutory distinction is irrelevant – the
incidence is determined by the underlying
elasticities of supply and demand.
? Figure 12.8 shows the likely outcome on wages.
Figure 12.8
43
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Competition
? We can also loosen the assumption of
perfect competition.
? Figure 12.9 shows a monopolist before a
per-unit tax is imposed.
Figure 12.9
45
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Competition
? After a per-unit tax is imposed in Figure
12.10,the,effective” demand curve shifts
down,as does the,effective” marginal
revenue curve.
? Monopolist’s profits fall after the tax,even
though it has market power.
Figure 12.10
47
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Profits taxes
? Firms can be taxed on economic profits,
defined as the return to the owners of the firm in
excess of the opportunity costs of the factors
used in production.
? For profit-maximizing firms,proportional profit
taxes cannot be shifted.
– Intuition,the same price-quantity combination that
initially maximized profits initially still does,Output
does not change.
48
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? Special issues arise when land is taxed.
– Fixed supply,immobile,durable
– Assume annual rental rate is $Rt at time t.
– If market for land is competitive,its value is simply
equal to the present discounted value of rental
payments:
? ? ? ? ? ?
P R
R
r
R
r
R
r
R
T
T? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?$
$ $
.,,
$
0
1 2
21 1 1
49
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? Assume a tax of $ut is then imposed in each
period t,The returns on owning land therefore
fall,and purchasers take this into account,Thus,
the price falls to:
? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ?
?
? ? ?
?
P R u R u
r
R u
r
R u
rR
T T
T$
$ $,,, $
0 0
1 1 2 2
21 1 1
50
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? The difference in these prices is simply the
present discounted value of tax payments:
? ? ? ? ? ?P P u
u
r
u
r
u
rR R
T
T? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?$,,,0
1 2
21 1 1
? At the time the tax is imposed (not collected),
the price of the land falls by the present value
of all future tax payments,a process known
as capitalization.
51
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? The person who bears the full burden of the tax
forever is the landlord at the time the tax is levied.
? Future landlords write the checks to the tax
authority,but these payments are not a,burden”
because they paid a lower price for the land from
the current landlord.
? Also works the other way,when a new benefit is
announced (e.g.,better schools).
52
General Equilibrium Models
? Looking at one particular market may be
insufficient when a sector is large enough relative
to the economy as a whole.
? General equilibrium analysis takes into account
the ways in which various markets are
interrelated.
– Accounts for both inputs and output,and related
commodities
53
General Equilibrium Models
? In a GE model,usually assume:
– 2 commodities (F=food,M=manufactures)
– 2 factors of production (L=labor,K=capital)
– No savings
54
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Nine possible ad-valorem taxes in such a model:
? Four partial factor taxes
– tKF=tax on capital used in production of food
– tKM=tax on capital used in production of manufactures
– tLF=tax on labor used in production of food
– tLM=tax on labor used in production of manufactures
55
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Five other possible ad-valorem taxes:
– Two consumption taxes (on food and manufactures)
? tF =tax on consumption of food
? tM=tax on consumption of manufactures
– Two factor taxes
? tK=tax on capital in both sectors
? tL=tax on labor in both sectors
– Income tax
? t=general income tax
56
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Certain combinations of these nine taxes are
equivalent to others.
– Equal consumption taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal factor taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal partial factor taxes equivalent to a consumption
tax on that commodity.
? See Table 12.2 for the equivalences.
57
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Certain combinations of these nine taxes are
equivalent to others.
– Equal consumption taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal factor taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal partial factor taxes equivalent to a consumption
tax on that commodity.
? See Table 12.2 for the equivalences.
58
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Apply GE models to tax incidence,Principal assumptions
include:
– Technology,Constant returns to scale,production may differ
with respect to elasticity of substitution (either capital
intensive or labor intensive).
– Behavior of factor suppliers,Labor and capital perfectly
mobile (net return equalized across sectors).
– Market structure,Perfectly competitive
– Total factor supplies,Fixed (but mobile across sector)
– Consumer preferences,Identical
– Tax incidence framework,Differential tax incidence
59
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Commodity tax,A tax on food leads to …
– Relative price of food increasing
– Consumers substitute away from food and toward
manufactures
– Less food produced,more manufactures produced
– As food production falls,labor and capital relocate
toward manufacturing
– Because labor-capital ratios differ across sectors,
relative prices of inputs have to change for
manufacturing to be willing to absorb unemployed
factors.
60
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Commodity tax,A tax on food leads to …
– If food production is relatively capital intensive,
relatively large amounts of capital must be absorbed by
manufacturing.
? Relative price of capital falls (including capital already
used in manufacturing)
? All capital is relatively worse off,not just capital used in
the food sector.
– In general,tax on the output of a particular sector
induces a decline in the relative price of the input that is
used intensively in that sector.
61
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Conclusion,food tax tends to hurt people who
receive a relatively large proportion of income
from capital.
? Would also hurt those who consume a large
proportion of food (if dropped identical
preferences).
62
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Income tax,Since it is equivalent to set of taxes
on labor and capital at same rate,and factors are
fixed,income tax cannot be shifted.
? Labor tax,No incentive to switch use between
sectors,labor bears full burden.
? Partial factor tax,Two initial effects –
– Output effect
– Factor substitution effect
? See Figure 12.11 for flowchart of effects.
Figure 12.11
64
Recap of Taxation and Income
Distribution
? Partial Equilibrium Analysis
– Per unit taxes
– Ad valorem taxes
? General Equilibrium Analysis
Chapter 12 – Taxation and
Income Distribution
Public Economics
2
Introduction
? Many policies center around whether the
tax burden is distributed fairly.
? Not as simple as analyzing how much in
taxes each person actually paid,because
of tax-induced changes to price.
3
Introduction
? Two main concepts of how a tax is
distributed:
– Statutory incidence – who is legally
responsible for tax
– Economic incidence – the true change in
the distribution of income induced by tax.
– These two concepts differ because of tax
shifting.
4
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Only people can bear taxes
– Business paying their fair share simply shifts
the tax burden to different people
– Can study people whose total income
consists of different proportions of labor
earnings,capital income,and so on.
– Sometimes appropriate to study incidence of
a tax across regions.
5
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Both Sources and Uses of Income should
be considered
– Tax affects consumers,workers in industry,
and owners
– Economists often ignore the sources side
6
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Incidence depends on how prices are
determined
– Industry structure matters
– Short- versus long-run responses
7
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Incidence depends on disposition of tax
revenue
– Balanced budget incidence computes the combined
effects of levying taxes and government spending
financed by those taxes.
– Differential tax incidence compares the incidence of
one tax to another,ignoring how the money is spent,
? Often the comparison tax is a lump sum tax – a tax
that does not depend on a person’s behavior.
8
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Tax progressiveness can be measured in
a number of ways
– A tax is often classified as:
? Progressive
? Regressive
? Proportional
– Proportional taxes are straightforward,ratio
of taxes to income is constant regardless of
income level.
9
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Can define progressive (and regressive)
taxes in a number of ways.
? Can compute in terms of
– Average tax rate (ratio of total taxes total
income) or
– Marginal tax rate (tax rate on last dollar of
income)
10
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? Measuring how progressive a tax system is
present additional difficulties,Consider two simple
definitions.
– The first one says that the greater the increase in
average tax rates as income rises,the more progressive
is the system.
v
I I
T
I
T
I
1
1 0
1
1
0
0?
?
?
11
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
– The second one says a tax system is more progressive
if its elasticity of tax revenues with respect to income is
higher.
– Recall that an elasticity is defined in terms of percent
change in one variable with respect to percent change in
another one:
? ?
? ?
v
T
I
T T
T
I I
I
2
1 0
0
1 0
0
? ?
?
?
%
%
?
?
12
Tax Incidence,General Remarks
? These two measures,both of which make
intuitive sense,may lead to different
answers.
? Example,increasing all taxpayer’s liability
by 20%
13
Partial Equilibrium Models
? Partial equilibrium models only examine
the market in which the tax is imposed,
and ignores other markets.
? Most appropriate when the taxed
commodity is small relative to the
economy as a whole.
14
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Unit taxes are levied as a fixed amount
per unit of commodity sold
– Federal tax on cigarettes,for example,is 39
cents per pack.
? Assume perfect competition,Then the
initial equilibrium is determined as (Q0,P0)
in Figure 12.1.
Figure 12.1
16
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Next,impose a per-unit tax of $u in this
market.
– Key insight,In the presence of a tax,the
price paid by consumers and price received
by producers differ.
– Before,the supply-and-demand system was
used to determine a single price; now there is
a separate price for each.
17
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? How does the tax affect the demand schedule?
– Consider point a in Figure 12.1,Pa is the maximum
price consumers would pay for Qa.
– The willingness-to-pay by demanders does NOT
change when a tax is imposed on them,Instead,the
demand curve as perceived by producers changes.
– Producers perceive they could receive only (Pa–u) if
they supplied Qa,That is,suppliers perceive that the
demand curve shifts down to point b in Figure 12.1.
18
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Performing this thought experiment for all
quantities leads to a new,perceived
demand curve shown in Figure 12.2.
? This new demand curve,Dc’,is relevant
for suppliers because it shows how much
they receive for each unit sold.
Figure 12.2
20
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Equilibrium now consists of a new
quantity and two prices (one paid by
demanders,and the other received by
suppliers).
– The supplier’s price (Pn) is determined by the
new demand curve and the old supply curve.
– The demander’s price Pg=Pn+u.
– Quantity Q1 is obtained by either D(Pg) or
S(Pn).
21
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Per-unit taxes
? Tax revenue is equal to uQ1,or area kfhn
in Figure 12.2.
? The economic incidence of the tax is split
between the demanders and suppliers
– Price demanders face goes up from P0 to Pg,
which (in this case) is less than the statutory
tax,u.
22
Numerical Example
? Suppose the market for champagne is
characterized by the following supply and demand
curves:
Q P
Q P
S
D
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
23
Numerical Example
? If the government imposes a per-unit tax on
demanders of $8 per unit,the tax creates a wedge
between what demanders pay and suppliers get,
Before the tax,we can rewrite the system as:
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D
? ?
? ?
?
20 2
100 2
24
Numerical Example
? After the tax,suppliers receive $8 less per pack
than demanders pay,Therefore:
P P
P P
S D D
S D
? ?
? ?
?
8
25
Numerical Example
? Solving the initial system (before the tax) gives a
price of P=20 and Q=60,Solving the system after
the tax gives:
? ?Q Q P P
P P Q
S D D D
D S
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ?
20 2 8 100 2
24 16 52,,
26
Numerical Example
? In this case,the statutory incidence falls 100% on
the demanders,but the economic incidence is
50% on demanders and 50% on suppliers:
P PD ?
?
?
?0 0 5
?
$24 $20
$8
.
27
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? Incidence of a unit tax is independent of
whether it is levied on consumers or producers.
? If the tax were levied on producers,the supplier
curve as perceived by consumers would shift
upward.
– This means that consumers perceive it is more
expensive for the firms to provide any given quantity.
? This is illustrated in Figure 12.3.
Figure 12.3
29
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? In our previous numerical example,the tax on
demanders led to the following relationship:
P P P PS D D S D? ? ? ? ?? 8
? If we instead taxed suppliers,this relationship
would instead be:
P P P P P PD S S D S S D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? 8 8
30
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Taxes on suppliers vs,demanders
? Clearly,these equations identical to each other,
The same quantity and prices will emerge as
before.
? Implication,The statutory incidence of a tax tells
us nothing about the economic incidence of it.
? The tax wedge is defined as the difference
between the price paid by consumers and price
received by producers.
31
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Elasticities
? Incidence of a unit tax depends on the
elasticities of supply and demand.
? In general,the more elastic the demand curve,
the less of the tax is borne by consumers,
ceteris paribus.
– Elasticities provide a measure of an economic
agent’s ability to,escape” the tax.
– The more elastic the demand,the easier it is for
consumers to turn to other products when the price
goes up,Thus,suppliers must bear more of tax.
32
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Elasticities
? Figures 12.4 and 12.5 illustrate two extreme
cases.
– Figure 12.4 shows a perfectly inelastic supply curve
– Figure 12.5 shows a perfectly elastic supply curve
? In the first case,the price consumers pay does
not change.
? In the second case,the price consumers pay
increases by the full amount of the tax.
Figure 12.4
Figure 12.5
35
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? An ad-valorem tax is a tax with a rate given in
proportion to the price.
? A good example is the sales tax.
? Graphical analysis is fairly similar to the case
we had before.
? Instead of moving the demand curve down by
the same absolute amount for each quantity,
move it down by the same proportion.
36
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? Figure 12.7 shows an ad-valorem tax
levied on demanders.
? As with the per-unit tax,the demand
curve as perceived by suppliers has
changed,and the same analysis is used
to find equilibrium quantity and prices.
Figure 12.7
38
Numerical Example
? Returning to our previous example,with a per-unit
tax on demanders the system was written as:
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D D
? ?
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
?
39
Numerical Example
? Now,with an ad-valorem tax (τD),the system is
written as:
? ?
Q P
Q P
P P
S S
D D
S D D
? ?
? ?
? ?
20 2
100 2
1 ?
40
Numerical Example
? If the ad-valorem tax on demanders was 10%,
then relationship between prices is:
? ?
P P
Q Q P P
P P Q
S D
S D D D
D S
? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ?
0 9
20 2 0 9 100 2
21 05 18 95 57 89
.
.
.,.,.
41
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Ad-valorem Tax
? The payroll tax,which pays for Social Security
and Medicare,is an ad-valorem tax on a factor
of production – labor.
? Statutory incidence is split evenly with a total of
15.3%.
? The statutory distinction is irrelevant – the
incidence is determined by the underlying
elasticities of supply and demand.
? Figure 12.8 shows the likely outcome on wages.
Figure 12.8
43
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Competition
? We can also loosen the assumption of
perfect competition.
? Figure 12.9 shows a monopolist before a
per-unit tax is imposed.
Figure 12.9
45
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Competition
? After a per-unit tax is imposed in Figure
12.10,the,effective” demand curve shifts
down,as does the,effective” marginal
revenue curve.
? Monopolist’s profits fall after the tax,even
though it has market power.
Figure 12.10
47
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Profits taxes
? Firms can be taxed on economic profits,
defined as the return to the owners of the firm in
excess of the opportunity costs of the factors
used in production.
? For profit-maximizing firms,proportional profit
taxes cannot be shifted.
– Intuition,the same price-quantity combination that
initially maximized profits initially still does,Output
does not change.
48
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? Special issues arise when land is taxed.
– Fixed supply,immobile,durable
– Assume annual rental rate is $Rt at time t.
– If market for land is competitive,its value is simply
equal to the present discounted value of rental
payments:
? ? ? ? ? ?
P R
R
r
R
r
R
r
R
T
T? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?$
$ $
.,,
$
0
1 2
21 1 1
49
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? Assume a tax of $ut is then imposed in each
period t,The returns on owning land therefore
fall,and purchasers take this into account,Thus,
the price falls to:
? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ?
?
? ? ?
?
P R u R u
r
R u
r
R u
rR
T T
T$
$ $,,, $
0 0
1 1 2 2
21 1 1
50
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? The difference in these prices is simply the
present discounted value of tax payments:
? ? ? ? ? ?P P u
u
r
u
r
u
rR R
T
T? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?$,,,0
1 2
21 1 1
? At the time the tax is imposed (not collected),
the price of the land falls by the present value
of all future tax payments,a process known
as capitalization.
51
Partial Equilibrium Models:
Capitalization
? The person who bears the full burden of the tax
forever is the landlord at the time the tax is levied.
? Future landlords write the checks to the tax
authority,but these payments are not a,burden”
because they paid a lower price for the land from
the current landlord.
? Also works the other way,when a new benefit is
announced (e.g.,better schools).
52
General Equilibrium Models
? Looking at one particular market may be
insufficient when a sector is large enough relative
to the economy as a whole.
? General equilibrium analysis takes into account
the ways in which various markets are
interrelated.
– Accounts for both inputs and output,and related
commodities
53
General Equilibrium Models
? In a GE model,usually assume:
– 2 commodities (F=food,M=manufactures)
– 2 factors of production (L=labor,K=capital)
– No savings
54
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Nine possible ad-valorem taxes in such a model:
? Four partial factor taxes
– tKF=tax on capital used in production of food
– tKM=tax on capital used in production of manufactures
– tLF=tax on labor used in production of food
– tLM=tax on labor used in production of manufactures
55
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Five other possible ad-valorem taxes:
– Two consumption taxes (on food and manufactures)
? tF =tax on consumption of food
? tM=tax on consumption of manufactures
– Two factor taxes
? tK=tax on capital in both sectors
? tL=tax on labor in both sectors
– Income tax
? t=general income tax
56
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Certain combinations of these nine taxes are
equivalent to others.
– Equal consumption taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal factor taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal partial factor taxes equivalent to a consumption
tax on that commodity.
? See Table 12.2 for the equivalences.
57
General Equilibrium Models:
Tax equivalence
? Certain combinations of these nine taxes are
equivalent to others.
– Equal consumption taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal factor taxes equivalent to an income tax.
– Equal partial factor taxes equivalent to a consumption
tax on that commodity.
? See Table 12.2 for the equivalences.
58
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Apply GE models to tax incidence,Principal assumptions
include:
– Technology,Constant returns to scale,production may differ
with respect to elasticity of substitution (either capital
intensive or labor intensive).
– Behavior of factor suppliers,Labor and capital perfectly
mobile (net return equalized across sectors).
– Market structure,Perfectly competitive
– Total factor supplies,Fixed (but mobile across sector)
– Consumer preferences,Identical
– Tax incidence framework,Differential tax incidence
59
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Commodity tax,A tax on food leads to …
– Relative price of food increasing
– Consumers substitute away from food and toward
manufactures
– Less food produced,more manufactures produced
– As food production falls,labor and capital relocate
toward manufacturing
– Because labor-capital ratios differ across sectors,
relative prices of inputs have to change for
manufacturing to be willing to absorb unemployed
factors.
60
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Commodity tax,A tax on food leads to …
– If food production is relatively capital intensive,
relatively large amounts of capital must be absorbed by
manufacturing.
? Relative price of capital falls (including capital already
used in manufacturing)
? All capital is relatively worse off,not just capital used in
the food sector.
– In general,tax on the output of a particular sector
induces a decline in the relative price of the input that is
used intensively in that sector.
61
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Conclusion,food tax tends to hurt people who
receive a relatively large proportion of income
from capital.
? Would also hurt those who consume a large
proportion of food (if dropped identical
preferences).
62
General Equilibrium Models:
Harberger Model
? Income tax,Since it is equivalent to set of taxes
on labor and capital at same rate,and factors are
fixed,income tax cannot be shifted.
? Labor tax,No incentive to switch use between
sectors,labor bears full burden.
? Partial factor tax,Two initial effects –
– Output effect
– Factor substitution effect
? See Figure 12.11 for flowchart of effects.
Figure 12.11
64
Recap of Taxation and Income
Distribution
? Partial Equilibrium Analysis
– Per unit taxes
– Ad valorem taxes
? General Equilibrium Analysis
