Income Inequality, Tax Policy, and Economic Growth*
利用美国州级数据和家庭纳税申报表，研究发现通过税收降低低收入与中等收入家庭之间的不平等能促进经济增长，但降低中等收入与高收入家庭之间的不平等则会抑制增长，这源于供给侧和消费需求的双重影响。
We investigate how the reduction of income inequality through tax policy affects economic growth. Taxation at different points of the income distribution has heterogeneous impacts on households' incentives to work, invest, and consume. Using US state‐level data and micro‐level household tax returns over the last three decades, we find that reducing income inequality between low and median income households improves economic growth. However, reducing income inequality through taxation between median and high‐income households reduces economic growth. These asymmetric economic growth effects are attributable both to supply‐side factors (i.e. changes in small business activity and labour supply) and to consumption demand.