Universal Basic Income and Negative Income Tax: Two Different Ways of Thinking Redistribution

Davide, Tondani (2007): Universal Basic Income and Negative Income Tax: Two Different Ways of Thinking Redistribution.

Abstract

This article examines two redistributive programs: Negative Income Tax and Universal Basic Income. Its aim is to show that, even if the two programs – through the implementation of an appropriate tax-benefit system – can get the same distributive outcome, they are deeply different both from an economic point of view and an ethic perspective. The approach adopted integrates positive and normative analysis so that an explicit attention to ethical issues can provide a more complete descriptive economics. We show that Negative Income Tax scheme is consistent with the libertarian idea of distributive justice, while Basic Income matches with the egalitarian thought.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: University of Parma - Department of Law, Economics and International Finance
• Language: English
• Keywords: Basic Income; Negative Income Tax; Redistribution; Distributive Justice
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; D - Microeconomics > D3 - Distribution > D31 - Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs; H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H24 - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

References

Arnsperger, C., Van Parijs, P., 2000. Étique économique et sociale, La Decouverte, Paris. Atkinson, A.B., 1995. Public Economics in Action : The Basic Income/Flat Tax Proposal, Clarendon Press. Buchanan, J., 1986. The ethical limit of taxation, in: Buchanan, J., Liberty, Market and State, Wheatshelf Books, Brighton. pp. 165--177 Del Bò, C., 2004. Un reddito per tutti, un’introduzione al basic income, Ibis, Pavia Friedman, M., 1962. Capitalism and freedom, Chicago University Press, Chicago. Harsanyi, J., 1975. Can the Maximin principle serve as a Basis for Morality? A critique of John Rawls’s Theory. The American Political Science Review 69, 594--606 Jaquet, L., Van Parijs, P. e Caesar Salinas, C., 2000. Basic Income and its Cognates, in: Van der Veen, R., Groot, L., (Eds), Basic Income on the Agenda, Policy Objectives and Political Chances, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, pp. 53--83. Locke, J., 1690. Second treatise on Government, Dent & Sons, 1924. London Maguain, D., 2002. Les theories de la justice distributive post-rawlsiennes: une revue de la literature, Revue Economique, 53, 165-199. Moffit, R.A., 2002. Welfare Programs and Labour Supply, in: Auerbach, A.J., Feldstein, M. (Eds), Handbook of Public Economics, Vol. 4. North Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 239--2429. Moffit, R.A., 2003. The Negative Income Tax and the Evolution of U.S. Welfare Policy. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 17, 119--140 Nozick, R., 1974. Anarchy, State and Utopia, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Paine, T., 1796. Agrarian Justice, in: Foot, M., Kranmich, I. (Eds), 1987, The Thomas Paine Reader, Penguin, Harmondsworth, pp. 471--489. Parker, H., 1982. Basic Income Guarantee Scheme: Synopsis, in: The Structure of Personal Income Taxation and Income Support, House of Commons, Treasury and Civil Service Committee. London, HMSO, pp. 424--453. Rawls, J., 1971. A theory of justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA Rhys Williams, J., 1943. Something to Look Forward To, MacDonald & Co, London. Rhys Williams, J., 1953. Taxation and Incentive, Oxford University Press. Rothbard, M.N., 1973. For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, Collier, New York. Steiner, H., 1994. An Essay on Rights, Blackwell, Oxford. Suplicy, E.M., 2000. Um diálogo com Milton Friedman sobre o imposto de renda negativo. Paper presented at Basic Income European Network VIIIth International Congress, Berlin, 6-7 October 2000. Tinbergen, J., 1953. Economic Policy: Principles and Design, North Holland, Amsterdam. Tobin, J., 1965. Improving the Economic Status of the Negro, Daedalus Vallentyne, P., 1998. Le libertarisme de gauche et la justice, in Revue Economique, 50, 859-878. Van Parijs, P. , 1992. Competing Justifications of Basic Income, in: Van Parijs (Eds), Arguing for Basic Income. Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform, Verso, London, pp. 3--43 Van Parijs, P., 1991. Qu’est ce qu’une société juste? La Seuil, Paris. Van Parijs, P., 1995. Real Freedom for All. What, (if anything) can justify capitalism?, Oxford University Press, Oxford.