Progressive Taxation, Wealth Distribution, and Macroeconomic Stability

Abstract

Using the standard neoclassical growth model with two types of agents, we examine how the presence of heterogenous agents affects the stabilization role of progressive income taxation. We first show that if the marginal tax payment of each agent increases with her relative income, the steady state satisfies local saddlepoint stability so that the equilibrium is determinate. However, unlike the representative agent models with progressive taxation, our model with heterogeneous agents may have the possibility of equilibrium indeterminacy. The indeterminacy conditions depend not only on the property of tax functions but also on production and preference structures.heterogeneous agents, progressive taxation, wealth distribution, aggregate stability