CAPITALISTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Smith, Matthew; Yagan, Danny; Zidar, Owen; Zwick, Eric
• 署名单位: United States Department of the Treasury; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research; Princeton University; University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjz020
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1675-1745
• 关键词: UNITED-STATES; optimal taxation; WEALTH; income; INEQUALITY; firm; INVESTMENT; ECONOMY; TRENDS; taxes

摘要

How important is human capital at the top of the U.S. income distribution? A primary source of top income is private pass-through business profit, which can include entrepreneurial labor income for tax reasons. This article asks whether top pass-through profit mostly reflects human capital, defined as all inalienable factors embodied in business owners, rather than financial capital. Tax data linking 11 million firms to their owners show that top pass-through profit accrues to working-age owners of closely held mid-market firms in skill-intensive industries. Pass-through profit falls by three-quarters after owner retirement or premature death. Classifying three-quarters of pass-through profit as human capital income, we find that the typical top earner derives most of her income from human capital, not financial capital. Growth in pass-through profit is explained by both rising productivity and a rising share of value added accruing to owners. JEL Codes: D31, E01, H2, J3, L26.