MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Essays on the economics of income taxation

Author(s)
Saez, Emmanuel
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (9.238Mb)
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics.
Advisor
James Poterba and Peter Diamond.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
The first chapter derives optimal income tax formulas using the concepts of compensated and uncompensated elasticities of earnings with respect to tax rates. This method of derivation casts new light on the original Mirrlees formulas of optimal taxation and can be easily extended to a heterogeneous population of taxpayers. A simple formula for optimal marginal rates for high income earners is derived as a function of the two elasticities of earnings and the thickness of the income distribution. Optimal income tax simulations are presented using empirical wage income distributions and a range of realistic elasticity parameters. The second chapter derives the non-linear income tax schedule which minimizes dead-weight burden without any regard for redistribution. The features of this problem are shown to be equivalent to the Mirrlees' optimal income tax problem. The tax schedule minimizing dead-weight burden is an optimal income tax schedule in which the government applies particular marginal welfare weights at each income level. In the case of no income effects, these marginal welfare weights are the same for everybody. The last chapter uses a panel of individual tax returns and the 'bracket creep' as source of tax rate variation to construct instrumental variables estimates of the sensitivity of income to changes in tax rates. Compensated elasticities can be estimated by comparing the differences in changes in income between taxpayers close to the top-end of a tax bracket to the other taxpayers. The elasticities found are higher than those derived in labor supply studies but smaller than those found previously with the same kind of tax returns data.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Economics, c1999.
 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-166).
 
Date issued
1999
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38434
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Economics.

Collections
  • Doctoral Theses

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.