The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution / N. Gregory Mankiw, Matthew Weinzierl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mankiw, N. Gregory.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Weinzierl, Matthew.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w14976.

NBER working paper series no. w14976

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

The Optimal Taxation of Height

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

Should the income tax include a credit for short taxpayers and a surcharge for tall ones? The standard Utilitarian framework for tax analysis answers this question in the affirmative. Moreover, a plausible parameterization using data on height and wages implies a substantial height tax: a tall person earning $50,000 should pay $4,500 more in tax than a short person. One interpretation is that personal attributes correlated with wages should be considered more widely for determining taxes. Alternatively, if policies such as a height tax are rejected, then the standard Utilitarian framework must fail to capture intuitive notions of distributive justice.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2009.