Which tax rate do people use: Average or marginal?
Which tax rate do people use: Average or marginal?
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DOI：
10.1016/0047-2727(93)01409-4
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发表时间：
1991
影响因子：
9.8
通讯作者：
C. D. Bartolome
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
C. D. Bartolome
我通过实验调查了个人在做边际经济决策时所使用的税率。我发现，至少有很多人把平均税率“当作”边际税率来使用，就像使用真正的边际税率一样。普遍使用平均税率的原因在于税表的表示方式：如果重新设计税表以强调边际税率，几乎所有人都使用真正的边际税率。然而，这种误解对社会是有益的：使用合理的参数估计，它将一个典型家庭的超额负担降低了43%，并可能使所有家庭都变得更富裕。
I investigate by experiment the tax rate used by individuals when making marginal economic decisions. I find that there are at least as many individuals who use the average tax rate ‘as if’ it is the marginal tax rate, as individuals who use the true marginal tax rate. The cause of the widespread use of the average tax rate is shown to be the presentation of the tax table: almost all individuals use the true marginal tax rate if the tax table is redesigned to stress the marginal rate. However, the misperception is socially beneficial: using reasonable parameter estimates, it lowers the excess burden of a typical household by 43%, and is likely to make all households better-off.