The Effects of Fiscal Redistribution

Technology and Labor Regulations: Theory and Evidence

This paper shows that different labor market policies can lead to differences in technology across sectors in a model of labor saving technologies. Labor market regulations reduce the skill premium and as a result, if technologies are labor saving, countries with more stringent labor regulation, which bind more for low skilled workers, become less technolog- ically advanced in their high skill sectors, but more technologically advanced in their low skill sectors. We then present data on capital-output ratios, on estimated productivity levels and on patent creation, which tend to support the predictions of our model.

CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE: A NEW APPROACH, NEW DATA, AND NEW RESULTS

Recently, Penn World Tables include new data that enable calculation of total factor productivity in addition to output for a large set of countries. We use these new data to examine convergence and divergence across countries by applying a new approach, which differentiates between the dynamics of output and of productivity. Our empirical results lead to two main new contributions to the literature. The first is on the interpretation of “β-convergence” in “growth regressions.” It means that output per worker in each country converges to productivity but does not imply convergence across countries, since productivity tends to diverge from the global frontier. The second contribution is to t…

The Effects of Fiscal Redistribution

Every discussion on income distribution and inequality distinguishes between market income, namely income before tax and without transfers, and disposable, or net income, which is after tax and including transfers. Hence, taxation and transfers create a redistribution of income. This redistribution is usually progressive, as direct taxes and subsidies are progressive, and thus it is supposed to reduce inequality, in the transition from market income to disposable income. This paper focuses on measuring the effect of fiscal policy in income redistribution and in reducing inequality. It also examines which type of fiscal policy is most strongly related to the redistribution of income, are the…