The spenders-hoarders theory of capital accumulations, wealth distribution and fiscal policy

Resumo

This paper proposes a simple OLG model which is consistent with the essential facts about consumer behavior, capital accumulation and wealth distribution, and yields some new and surprising conclusions about fiscal policy. By considering a society in which individuais are distinguished according to two characteristics, altruism and wealth preference, we show that those who in the long run hold the bulk of private capital are not so rnuch motivated by dynastic altruism as by preference for wealth. Two types of social segmentation can result with different wcalth distribution. To a large extcnt our results seem to fit reality better than those obtained with standard optimal growth models in which dynastic altruism ( or r ate o f impatience) is the only source of heterogeneity: overaccumulation can appear, public debt and unfunded pensions are not neutra!, estate taxation can improve the welfare of the top wealthy.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Estudo

Ano

2007

Instituição

Fundação Getulio Vargas. Escola de Pós-Graduação em Economia

Fonte

Repositório da FGV

Idioma

Inglês

Acesso

Não informado

Identificador

oai:repositorio.fgv.br:10438/16552

Temas

EconomiaFinanças Públicas

Palavras-chave

Preference for wealthWealth distributionRicardian equivalenceAltruismCapital accumulationEconomiaPolítica tributáriaRiquezaPoupança e investimentoAltruísmo