Revealed social preferences of Dutch political parties

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jacobs, Bas; Jongen, Egbert L. W.; Zoutrnan, Floris T.
• 署名单位: Erasmus University Rotterdam - Excl Erasmus MC; Erasmus University Rotterdam; Tinbergen Institute; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy; Leiden University - Excl LUMC; Leiden University; Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.08.002
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 81-100
• 关键词: Inverse optimal-tax method; Revealed social preferences; Political parties

摘要

We measure the redistributive preferences of Dutch political parties using unique, detailed information from their election proposals. By employing the inverse optimal-tax method, we calculate the political weights across the income distribution for each political party. We find that all Dutch political parties give a higher political weight to middle incomes than to the poor. Moreover, the political weights of the rich are close to zero. Furthermore, we detect a strong political status quo bias as the political weights of all political parties hardly deviate from the weights implied by the pre-existing tax system. We argue that political-economy considerations are key in understanding these results. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.