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2023
- handle: 10670/1.9x2fek
- halshs: halshs-04353086
Mots-clés
Inequality Redistribution Predistribution Taxes Transfers D - Microeconomics/D.D3 - Distribution H - Public Economics/H.H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue H - Public Economics/H.H3 - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents H - Public Economics/H.H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related PoliciesSujets proches
Social inequality Social equality Inequality EgalitarianismCiter ce document
Antoine Bozio et al., « Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S. », HAL-SHS : économie et finance, ID : 10670/1.9x2fek
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Résumé
We construct series of post-tax income for France over the 1900–2018 period and compare them with U.S. series. We quantify the extent of redistribution—the reduction from pretax to post-tax inequality—and estimate the contribution of redistribution in explaining differences in post-tax inequality. We find that differences in pretax inequality drive most of the differences in post-tax inequality between France and the U.S., and that changes over time in both countries are mostly due to changes in pretax inequality. We highlight that the concept of redistribution can be empirically misleading for judging how policies reduce inequalities. Policies which reduce pretax inequality, i.e., predistribution, will reduce the magnitude of redistribution, while still reducing effectively post-tax inequality. This suggests that more attention should be paid to policies affecting pretax inequality.