THE EFFECT OF RISING INCOME INEQUALITY ON TAXATION AND PUBLIC EXPENDITURES: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. MUNICIPALITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS, 1970-2000

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Boustan, Leah; Ferreira, Fernando; Winkler, Hernan; Zolt, Eric M.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Pennsylvania; The World Bank; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00332
• 发表日期: 2013-10
• 页码: 1291-1302
• 关键词: wage inequality; finance reform; UNITED-STATES; property-tax; institutions; size; rise

摘要

The income distribution in many developed countries widened dramatically from 1970 to 2000. Some scholars argue that income inequality contributes to a host of social ills by undermining voters' willingness to support public expenditures. In contrast, we find that growing income inequality is associated with an expansion in government revenues and expenditures on a wide range of services in U.S. municipalities and school districts. Results are robust to a number of model specifications, including instrumental variables that address the endogeneity of the local income distribution. Our results are inconsistent with models predicting that heterogeneous societies provide lower levels of public goods.