Tax me if you can! Optimal Nonlinear Income Tax Between Competing Governments

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 2014
Volume: 129
Issue: 4
Pages: 1995-2030

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We investigate how potential tax-driven migrations modify the Mirrlees income tax schedule when two countries play Nash. The social objective is the maximin and preferences are quasi-linear in consumption. Individuals differ both in skills and migration costs, which are continuously distributed. We derive the optimal marginal income tax rates at the equilibrium, extending the Diamond-Saez formula. We show that the level and the slope of the semi-elasticity of migration (on which we lack empirical evidence) are crucial to derive the shape of optimal marginal income tax. JEL Codes: D82, H21, H87, F22.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:129:y:2014:i:4:p:1995-2030
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25