Estimating Taxable Income Responses Using Danish Tax Reforms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen; Schultz, Esben Anton
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.4.271
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 271-301
• 关键词: Optimization frictions; rates; elasticity; responsiveness; micro; panel

摘要

This paper estimates taxable income responses using a series of Danish tax reforms and population-wide administrative data since 1980. The tax variation and data in Denmark makes it possible to overcome the biases from nontax changes in inequality and mean reversion that plague the existing literature. We provide compelling graphical evidence of taxable income responses, arguably representing the first nonparametrically identified evidence of taxable income elasticities using tax reforms. We also present panel regression evidence that is extremely robust to specification, unlike previous results which have been very sensitive.