مالیات بر درآمد مطلوب با حضور اثرات وضعیت

The existence of distortions from individuals competing to attain social status by using consumption signals justifies some measure of income tax as a counter-acting distortion. The question posed here is whether it also constitutes a reason for a more progressive income tax schedule. The answer is found to be broadly negative if progressiveness is interpreted as a more convex tax schedule, unless the rich are more concerned with status-seeking than the poor. On the other hand, status-seeking makes the optimal tax schedule steeper so that redistribution is increased. Essentially, the analysis of status-seeking based on a signaling approach confirms and strengthens the existing view of an optimal tax schedule, and can be incorporated into the Diamond [American Economic Review 88 (1998) 83–95] approach.