Can consumption taxes reduce inequality in developing countries? This paper combines household expenditure data from 31 … allow for informal consumption and calibrates it to the data to study the effects of different tax policies on inequality …. Contrary to consensus, the findings show that consumption taxes are redistributive, lowering inequality by as much as personal …

The quest for status is a powerful motivator, but does it affect inequality? This paper presents a novel lab experiment … that was designed and conducted to identify the relationship between inequality, status signaling, debt, and conspicuous … finance exacerbates inequality. The results point to a vicious cycle of inequality and costly borrowing …