Income inequality, tax base and sovereign spreads

Main author: Aizenman, Joshua
Other authors: Jinjarak, Yothin
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-14272
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description This note investigates the association of greater income inequality and the tax base, de-facto fiscal space, and sovereign spreads. Using data for the 50 countries in 2007, in 2009 and in 2011, we find that higher income inequality is associated with lower tax base, lower de-facto fiscal space, and higher sovereign spreads. The economic magnitude of these effects is rather large: a 0.01 increase in the Gini coefficient of inequality, is associated in 2011 with a lower tax base of 2 % GDP, and with higher sovereign spread of 45 basis points.
format Journal Article
author Aizenman, Joshua
author_facet Aizenman, Joshua
Jinjarak, Yothin
authorStr Aizenman, Joshua
author_letter Aizenman, Joshua
author2 Jinjarak, Yothin
author2Str Jinjarak, Yothin
title Income inequality, tax base and sovereign spreads
publisher Mohr Siebeck
publishDate 2012
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/14272/