Using survey data to test for ricardian equivalence maarten. Ricardian equivalence fails because some households are credit a tax cut in the present with a future increase in taxes works government borrowing in the first period is 0. An electronic version of the paper may be downloaded from the ifo website. It shows that the marginal propensity to consume out of a tax cut, coupled with a future income tax increase, can be substantial under plausible assumptions. Use the free adobe acrobat reader to view this pdf file. Public debt, ricardian equivalence, intergenerational altruism. This pdf is a selection from an outofprint volume from the national bureau of economic research volume title. Although the ricardian equivalence theorem holds under a linear estate tax schedule, it fails to hold under a nonlinear estate tax schedule. How the timing of taxes interacts with restrictions on the ability of households to borrow. Article information, pdf download for using survey data to test for ricardian equivalence. Ricardian equivalence underlines the equivalencce of fiscal reforms, since such reforms are needed in order to change the path of government expenditures. Alternative methodology for the test of ricardian equivalence the objective of this section is to show that the previous tests presented in last section based on the correlation su.
Definition of ricardian equivalence this is the idea that consumers anticipate the future so if they receive a tax cut financed by government borrowing they anticipate future taxes will rise. Ricardian equivalence theorem flashcards and study sets. Pdf the modern ricardian equivalence theorem focuses on the intertemporal equivalence between taxation and bond financing of government expenditures. Invalidity of the ricardian equivalence theorem ifo institut. It follows that private consumption may now increase, and ricardian equivalence breaks. According to ricardian equivalence theorem ret, todays. Ricardian consumers with keynesian propensities this paper examines ricardian equivalence in a world in which taxes are not lump sum, but are levied on risky labor income. Debate about ricardian equivalence may be missing the obvious. A ricardian perspective is therefore supportive of countercyclical fiscal policy. Borrowing limits and ricardian equivalence does the timing of taxes matter. Therefore, their lifetime income remains unchanged and so consumer spending remains unchanged. The ricardian equivalence theorem is the proposition that the method of financing any particular path of government. In robert barro reinvestigated the idea and argued that under certain conditions, financing government spending by bonds was the same as raising taxes.
While the key question raised by the ricardian equivalent and keynesian micro economics on whether a shift in timing of taxation is likely to constraint government. Pdf the term ricardian equivalence was coined by the american economist robert barro in the 1970s and. Ricardian equivalence is an economic theory that suggests when a government tries to stimulate an economy by increasing debtfinanced government. Testing the ricardian equivalence theorem in the framework of the. The ricardian equivalence proposition for public debt in my 1974 jpe paper is related to the. The failure of ricardian equivalence under progressive wealth. The failure of ricardian equivalence under dynastic altruism. The ricardian equivalence theorem ascribes to david ricardo 17721823, the english economist, the view that taxation and public borrowing constitute equivalent. Perfect ricardian equivalence implies that a reduction in government saving due to tax cuts is fully offset by higher private saving, so the aggregate demand is not affected.
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