Optimal Mirrleesean Taxation in a Ben-Porath Economy

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Kapička
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Optimal Tax ◽  
Cycle Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Optimal Taxes

I characterize optimal taxes in a life-cycle economy where ability and human capital are unobservable. I show that unobservable human capital effectively makes preferences over labor nonseparable across age. I generalize the static optimal tax formulas to account for such nonseparabilities and show how they depend both on own-Frisch labor elasticities and cross-Frisch labor elasticities. I calibrate the economy to US data. I find that the optimal marginal income taxes decrease with age, in contrast to both the US tax code and to a model with observable human capital. I demonstrate that the behavior of cross-Frisch elasticities is essential in explaining the decline. (JEL D91, H21, H24, J24)

scholarly journals Optimal Taxation with Risky Human Capital

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-309
Author(s):  
Marek Kapička ◽  
Julian Neira
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Optimal Taxation ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Welfare Gains ◽  
Optimal Tax ◽  
Cycle Economy ◽  
Annual Consumption ◽  
Labor Wedge ◽  
Human Capital Investments ◽  
Unobservable Component

We study optimal tax policies in a life-cycle economy with permanent ability differences and risky human capital investments that have both an unobservable component, learning effort, and an observable component, schooling. The optimal policies balance redistribution across agents, insurance against human capital shocks, and incentives to learn and work. In the optimum, (i ) high-ability agents face risky consumption while low-ability agents are insured; (ii ) the optimal schooling subsidy is substantial but less than 100 percent; (iii) if utility is separable in labor and learning effort, the inverse labor wedge follows a random walk; and (iv ) if the utility is not separable then the “no distortion at the top” result does not apply. The welfare gains from switching to the optimal tax system are about 1 percent in annual consumption equivalents. (JEL D15, H21, H24, I26, J24)

Military Subsidization of Human Capital and Gender Stratification in the US Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342098262
Author(s):  
Tyler Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Gender Stratification ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
The Military

In the United States, the military is the primary channel through which many are able to obtain supports traditionally provided by the welfare state, such as access to higher education, job training, employment, health care, and so on. However, due to the nature of the military as a highly gendered institution, these social welfare functions are not as accessible for women as they are for men. This amounts to a highly gender-biased state spending pattern that subsidizes substantially more human capital development for men than for women, effectively reinforcing women’s subordinate status in the US economy. JEL classification: B54, B52, Z13

scholarly journals Kuznets meets Lucas: structural change and human capital

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 848-873
Author(s):  
Edgar Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Human Capital Accumulation ◽  
Relative Prices ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Balanced Growth Path ◽  
Cross Country

Abstract This paper develops a multi-sector growth model with human capital accumulation. In this model, human capital induces structural change through two channels: changes in relative prices and changes in the investment rate of physical and human capital. We show that the specifications of the model give rise to a generalized balanced growth path (GBGP). Furthermore, We show that the model is consistent with (i) the decline in agriculture, (ii) the hump-shaped of manufacturing, (iii) the rise of the services sector, and (iv) the path of human capital accumulation in the US economy during the 20th century. Given the findings, We outline that imbalances between physical and human capital contribute to explain cross-country differences in the pace of structural change.

Micro and Macro Labor Supply Elasticities: A Reassessment of Conventional Wisdom

2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 464-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Keane ◽  
Richard Rogerson
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Optimal Design ◽  
Labor Supply ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Human Capital Accumulation ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Large Aggregate ◽  
Economic Issues

The response of aggregate labor supply to various changes in the economic environment is central to many economic issues, especially the optimal design of tax policies. Conventional wisdom based on studies in the 1980s and 1990s has long held that the analysis of micro data leads one to conclude that aggregate labor supply elasticities are quite small. In this paper we argue that this conventional wisdom does not hold up to empirically reasonable and relevant extensions of simple life cycle models that served as the basis for these conclusions. In particular, we show that several pieces of conventional wisdom fail in the presence of human capital accumulation or labor supply decisions that allow for adjustment along both the extensive and intensive margin. We conclude that previous estimates of small labor supply elasticities based on micro data are fully consistent with large aggregate labor supply elasticities. (JEL D91, E24, J22)

scholarly journals International Real Estate Review

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Pnina O. Plaut1 ◽  
◽  
Steven E. Plaut ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Rental Housing ◽  
Residential Property ◽  
Rental Market ◽  
New Immigrants ◽  
The Us ◽  
Rental Property ◽  
Financial Portfolio

The supply of rental housing is by and large provided by landlord households. Little is understood about the factors, beyond financial portfolio considerations, that affect the inclination of people or households to become landlords. Studies of the American rental market have pointed to differences across income, wealth, ethnicity, and education in the willingness to rent out residential property to others. Here, we examine the question for Israel. We find that income and wealth are positively associated with the inclination to be a landlord. Education has an effect in Israel in contrast to the US (and Australia). Human capital in Israel appears to complement with rental property capital, unlike the case for the US and Australia, where they appear to be substitutes. In most cases, rental property in Israel and housing capital in the landlord's primary residence appear to be complementary. Ethnic minorities and new immigrants are under-represented among landlords. For households who own rental property, the income from such rentals is empirically analyzed.

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