By using estimates from an Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS), we investigate how the German energy tax on car fuels changes the private households-CO2 emissions, living standards, and post-tax income distribution. Our results show that the tax implies a trade-off between the aim to reduce...

Traditional analyses of redistributive effects of the tax-benefit system are rooted in the concepts of relative income inequality and proportionality. This observation also applies to decompositions proposed by Kakwani (1977, 1984) and Lambert (1985) that reveal the vertical and horizontal...

This paper presents some methods to redistribute the gains (or losses) of a tax reform and a procedure to identify the value judgements according to the tax reform outcome. They are useful to analyse the original proposal of personal income tax (IRPEF) reform presented in Italy by the current...

This paper studies the design of sin taxes when firms exercise market power. We outline an optimal tax framework that highlights how market power impacts the efficiency and redistributive properties of sin taxation, and quantify these effects in an application to sugar-sweetened beverage...

The distributional impacts of fiscal policies are instrumental in reducing inequality in countries like the Philippines, where inequality has been persistently high. This paper assesses how equitable various taxes and transfers in the Philippines are by deriving the elasticities of Atkinson and...

This paper considers questions about the implications of rising inequality for the theory and practice of public finance. It begins by addressing fundamental reasons why the distribution of income or wealth on an annual basis before taxes and transfers offers insufficient information: (1) it...

European countries have the world’s most redistributive tax and transfer systems. While they have been well equipped to deal with vertical inequality - that is, fostering redistribution from the rich to the poor - less is known about their performance in dealing with horizontal inequality,...

This paper makes a new attack on the old problem of measuring horizontal inequity in the income tax. Local measures of inequality of posttax income among pretax equals are proposed, which reflect alternative value judgments about the nature and magnitude of an inequity. These measures are...

An ongoing debate has centered on whether redistribution should be attained solely through taxes and transfer payments, or also via the private law. The most powerful argument against redistribution through private law is grounded on economic considerations. Accordingly, legal rules are more...

Energy and climate policies are usually seen as measures to internalize externalities. However, as a side effect, these policies redistribute wealth between consumers and producers, and within these groups. While redistribution is seldom the focus of the academic literature in energy economics,...