Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S
Antoine Bozio
(1, 2, 3)
,
Bertrand Garbinti
(4, 3)
,
Jonathan Goupille-Lebret
(5)
,
Malka Guillot
(6, 7, 3)
,
Thomas Piketty
(1, 2, 3)
1
PSE -
Paris School of Economics
2 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
3 WIL - World Inequality Lab
4 CREST - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique [Bruz]
5 GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne
6 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
7 IPP - Institut des politiques publiques
2 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
3 WIL - World Inequality Lab
4 CREST - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique [Bruz]
5 GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne
6 ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
7 IPP - Institut des politiques publiques
Antoine Bozio
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 743083
- IdHAL : antoine-bozio
- ORCID : 0000-0003-0201-6148
- IdRef : 129539597
Jonathan Goupille-Lebret
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 742499
- IdHAL : jonathangoupille-lebret
- ORCID : 0000-0001-5827-6374
Thomas Piketty
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1256308
- ORCID : 0000-0002-1261-2392
- IdRef : 033197563
Résumé
How much redistribution policies can account for long-run changes in inequality? To answer this question, we quantify the extent of redistribution over time by the percentage reduction from pretax to post-tax inequalities, and decompose the changes in post-tax inequalities into different redistributive policies and changes in pretax inequalities. To estimate these redistributive statistics, we construct homogenous annual series of post-tax national income for France over the 1900-2018 period, and compare them with those recently constructed for the U.S. We obtain three major findings. First, redistribution has increased in both countries over the period, earlier in the U.S., later in France, to reach similar levels today. Second, the substantial long-run decline in post-tax inequality in France over the 1900-2018 period is due mostly to the fall in pretax inequality (accounting for three quarters of the total decline), and to a lesser extent to the direct redistributive role of taxes, transfers and other public spending (about one quarter). Third, the reason why overall inequality is much smaller in France than in the U.S. is entirely due to differences in pretax inequality. These findings suggest that policy discussions on inequality should, in the future, pay more attention to policies affecting pretax inequality and should not focus exclusively on "redistribution".
Domaines
Economies et financesFormat du dépôt | Fichier |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Pré-publication, Document de travail |
Titre |
en
Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S
|
Résumé |
en
How much redistribution policies can account for long-run changes in inequality? To answer this question, we quantify the extent of redistribution over time by the percentage reduction from pretax to post-tax inequalities, and decompose the changes in post-tax inequalities into different redistributive policies and changes in pretax inequalities. To estimate these redistributive statistics, we construct homogenous annual series of post-tax national income for France over the 1900-2018 period, and compare them with those recently constructed for the U.S. We obtain three major findings. First, redistribution has increased in both countries over the period, earlier in the U.S., later in France, to reach similar levels today. Second, the substantial long-run decline in post-tax inequality in France over the 1900-2018 period is due mostly to the fall in pretax inequality (accounting for three quarters of the total decline), and to a lesser extent to the direct redistributive role of taxes, transfers and other public spending (about one quarter). Third, the reason why overall inequality is much smaller in France than in the U.S. is entirely due to differences in pretax inequality. These findings suggest that policy discussions on inequality should, in the future, pay more attention to policies affecting pretax inequality and should not focus exclusively on "redistribution".
|
Auteur(s) |
Antoine Bozio
1, 2, 3
, Bertrand Garbinti
4, 3
, Jonathan Goupille-Lebret
5
, Malka Guillot
6, 7, 3
, Thomas Piketty
1, 2, 3
1
PSE -
Paris School of Economics
( 301309 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
2
PJSE -
Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques
( 578027 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
3
WIL -
World Inequality Lab
( 1006727 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
4
CREST -
Centre de Recherche en Economie et Statistique [Bruz]
( 108719 )
- Campus Ker Lann
Rue Blaise Pascal
BP 37203
35172 Bruz
- France
5
GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne -
Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne
( 102550 )
- 93, chemin des Mouilles 69130 Écully
6, rue Basse des Rives 42023 Saint-Étienne cedex 02
- France
6
ETH Zürich -
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich]
( 180925 )
- Hauptgebäude, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich
- Suisse
7
IPP -
Institut des politiques publiques
( 266522 )
- 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris
- France
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Date de production/écriture |
2020-10
|
Public visé |
Scientifique
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Référence interne |
|
Projet(s) ANR |
|
Origine :
Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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