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Income inequality, tax base and sovereign spreads

Author

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  • Aizenman, Joshua
  • Jinjarak, Yothin
Abstract
This note investigates the impact of greater income inequality on the tax base, on the defactofiscal space, and the sovereign spreads. Using data from 50 countries in 2005 and in 2010,we find that higher income inequality is associated with a lower tax base, lower de-facto fiscalspace, and higher sovereign spreads. The economic magnitude of these effects is rather large: aone standard deviation increase of inequality is associated with a lower tax base of 28 % GDP,and with a higher sovereign spread of 240 basis points in 2005

Suggested Citation

  • Aizenman, Joshua & Jinjarak, Yothin, 2011. "Income inequality, tax base and sovereign spreads," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt76j471c7, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt76j471c7
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    Cited by:

    1. Lin Yang, 2018. "The net effect of housing-related costs and advantages on the relationship between inequality and poverty," CASE Papers /211, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    2. Yang, Lin, 2018. "The relationship between poverty and inequality: resource constraint mechanisms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103463, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Aizenman, Joshua & Jinjarak, Yothin & Nguyen, Hien Thi Kim & Park, Donghyun, 2018. "Fiscal space and government-spending & tax-rate cyclicality patterns: A cross-country comparison, 1960-2016," Working Paper Series 20837, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    4. Gilles Dufrénot & Anne-Charlotte Paret, 2018. "Sovereign debt in emerging market countries: not all of them are serial defaulters," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(59), pages 6406-6443, December.
    5. Hayley Pallan, 2022. "Sovereign Spreads and Corporate Taxation," IHEID Working Papers 15-2022, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    6. Maren Froemel, 2014. "Imperfect Financial Markets and the Cyclicality of Social Spending," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2014-11, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    7. Joshua Aizenman & Yothin Jinjarak & Hien Thi Kim Nguyen & Donghyun Park, 2018. "Fiscal Space and Government-Spending & Tax-Rate Cyclicality Patterns: A Cross-Country Comparison, 1960-2016," NBER Working Papers 25012, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Andreasen, Eugenia & Sandleris, Guido & Van der Ghote, Alejandro, 2019. "The political economy of sovereign defaults," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 23-36.
    9. Carrera, Jorge & de la Vega, Pablo, 2021. "The impact of income inequality on public debt," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    10. Canale, Rosaria Rita & Liotti, Giorgio & Marani, Ugo, 2019. "Structural public balance adjustment and poverty in Europe," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 227-236.
    11. Islam, Md. Rabiul & Madsen, Jakob B. & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2018. "Does inequality constrain the power to tax? Evidence from the OECD," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1-17.
    12. Weneyam Hippolyte Balima & Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea, 2015. "Sovereign Debt Risk in Emerging Countries: Does Inflation Targeting Adoption Make Any Difference?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01128239, HAL.
    13. Carlos Bethencourt & Lars Kunze, 2015. "The political economics of redistribution, inequality and tax avoidance," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 267-287, June.
    14. Minjie Deng, 2024. "Inequality, Taxation, and Sovereign Default Risk," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 217-249, April.
    15. El-Shagi, Makram & Schweinitz, Gregor von, 2021. "Fiscal policy and fiscal fragility: Empirical evidence from the OECD," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Aizenman, Joshua & Jinjarak, Yothin & Nguyen, Hien Thi Kim & Park, Donghyun, 2019. "Fiscal space and government-spending and tax-rate cyclicality patterns: A cross-country comparison, 1960–2016," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 229-252.
    17. Musharraf Cyan & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & VIoleta Vulovic, 2013. "Measuring tax effort: Does the estimation approach matter and should effort be linked to expenditure goals?," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1308, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    18. Luigino Bruni & Giovanni Ferri, 2015. "oes Cooperativeness Promote Happiness? Cross-country Evidence," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 107, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    19. Tran-Xuan, Monica, 2023. "Optimal redistributive policy in debt constrained economies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    20. Santo Milasi, 2014. "Top Income Shares and Budget Deficits," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, issue 1, pages 383-406, January-M.
    21. Scholl, Almuth, 2024. "The politics of redistribution and sovereign default," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    22. Omar Osman, 2021. "Income Inequality and Financial Disturbances: Does Income Inequality Engender Financial Crises?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 417-442, September.
    23. Steenkamp, Daan & Havemann, Roy & Hollander, Hylton, 2022. "The macroeconomics of establishing a basic income grant in South Africa," MPRA Paper 114614, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Achillefs Karakotsios & Constantinos Katrakilidis & Dimitrios Dimitriadis & Theodoros Christoforidis, 2020. "Examining the relationship between income inequality, taxation and economic freedom: a panel cointegration approach," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 206-215.
    25. Lin Yang, 2018. "The relationship between poverty and inequality: Resource constraint mechanisms," CASE Papers /212, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social and Behavioral Sciences; Income inequality; tax-base; fiscal space; sovereign spreads;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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