Research
You can find my research at
IDEAS and
econpapers.
Paper in the Editorial Process
-
Multidimensional Affluence: Theory and Applications to Germany and the US (with A. Peichl).
[ IZA DP 5926 ]
[ ECINEQ WP 218 ]
This paper suggests multidimensional affluence measures for the top of the distribution. In
contrast to commonly used top income shares, they allow the analysis of the extent, intensity
and breadth of affluence in several dimensions within a common framework. We illustrate this
by analyzing the role of income and wealth as dimensions of multidimensional well-being in
Germany and the US in 2007 as well as for the US over the period 1989-2007. We find
distinct country differences with the country ranking depending on the measure. While in
Germany wealth predominantly contributes to the intensity of affluence, income is more
important in the US.
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Tax Policy and Income Inequality in the U.S., 1978-2009: A Decomposition Approach (with O. Bargain, M. Dolls, H. Immervoll, D. Neumann, A. Peichl and S. Siegloch).
[ IZA DP 5910 ]
[ ECINEQ WP 215 ]
We assess the effects of U.S. tax policy reforms on inequality by applying a new
decomposition method that allows us to disentangle mechanical effects due to changes in
pre-tax incomes from direct effects of policy reforms. While tax reforms implemented under
Democrat administrations, in particular the EITC reforms in the 1990s and the ARRA in 2009,
had an equalizing effect at the lower half of the distribution, the disequalizing effects of
Republican reforms are due to tax cuts for high-income families. As a consequence of
partisan politics, overall policy effects almost cancel out over the whole time period.
Work in Progress
- Beyond Accounting: Inequality, Assortative Mating and Labor Supply in the U.S. and Germany.
- Fiscal Union in Europe? Efficiency, Equity and Stabilizing Effects of an EU-Wide Income Tax (with O. Bargain, M. Dolls, C. Fuest, D. Neumann, A. Peichl and S. Siegloch).
- The Distributional Effect of Tax Policy Changes: Germany 1985-2005 (with O. Bargain, M. Dolls, D. Neumann, A. Peichl and S. Siegloch).
- Multidimensional Richness Dominance (with A. Peichl and C. Scheicher).
