Optimal Taxation with Risky Human Capital
研究生命周期经济中，面对永久能力差异和风险人力资本投资时，如何设计最优税收政策以平衡再分配、保险和激励，发现最优政策下高能力者承担消费风险而低能力者受保护，教育补贴应较高但非全额，福利收益约为年消费的1%。
We study optimal tax policies in a life-cycle economy with permanent ability differences and risky human capital investments that have both an unobservable component, learning effort, and an observable component, schooling. The optimal policies balance redistribution across agents, insurance against human capital shocks, and incentives to learn and work. In the optimum, (i ) high-ability agents face risky consumption while low-ability agents are insured; (ii ) the optimal schooling subsidy is substantial but less than 100 percent; (iii) if utility is separable in labor and learning effort, the inverse labor wedge follows a random walk; and (iv ) if the utility is not separable then the “no distortion at the top” result does not apply. The welfare gains from switching to the optimal tax system are about 1 percent in annual consumption equivalents.