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Veblens Theory of the Leisure Class Revisited: Implications for Optimal Income Taxation
(2010-08)
Almost all previous studies on public policy under relative consumption concerns have ignored the role of leisure for status comparisons. Inspired by Veblen (1899), this paper considers a two-type optimal income tax model, ...
When Samuelson met Veblen abroad: National and global public good provision when social comparisons matter
(2012-09)
This paper derives Pareto efficient policy rules for the provision of national as well as global public goods in a two-country world, where each individual cares about relative consumption within as well as between countries. ...
Keeping up with the Joneses, the Smiths and the Tanakas: On International Tax Coordination and Social Comparisons
(2015-05)
Much evidence suggests that between-country social comparisons have become more important over time due to globalization. This paper analyzes optimal income taxation in a multi-country economy, where consumers derive utility ...
Discounting and Relative Consumption
(2013-03)
We analyze optimal social discount rates when people derive utility from relative consumption. We compare the social, private, and conventional Ramsey rates. Assuming a positive growth rate, we find that 1) the social ...
State-Variable Public Goods and Social Comparisons over Time
(2013-02)
The optimal provision of a state-variable public good, where the global climate is the prime example, is analyzed in a model where people care about their relative consumption. We consider both keeping-up-with-the-Joneses ...
Social Comparisons and Optimal Taxation in a Small Open Economy
(2016-05)
Almost all previous studies on optimal taxation and status consumption are based on closed
model-economies. This paper analyzes how international capital mobility – which may
constrain the use of capital income taxation ...
Genuine Saving and Conspicuous Consumption
(2016-01)
Much evidence suggests that people are concerned with their relative consumption, i.e., their own consumption relative to that of others. Yet, conspicuous consumption and the
corresponding social costs have so far been ...
POSITIONAL PREFERENCES IN TIME AND SPACE: IMPLICATIONS FOR OPTIMAL INCOME TAXATION
(2010-01-22)
This paper concerns optimal nonlinear taxation in an OLG model with two ability-types, where people care about their own consumption relative to (i) other people’s current consumption, (ii) own past consumption, and (iii) ...
POSITIONAL CONCERNS IN AN OLG MODEL: OPTIMAL LABOR AND CAPITAL INCOME TAXATION
(2009-04-16)
This paper concerns optimal income taxation under asymmetric information in a two-type
overlapping generations model, where people care about their relative consumption compared
to others. The appearance of positional ...
Conspicuous Leisure: Optimal Income Taxation when both Relative Consumption and Relative Leisure Matter
(2009-04-21)
Previous studies on public policy under relative consumption concerns have ignored
the role of leisure comparisons. This paper considers a two-type optimal nonlinear
income tax model where people care both about their ...