Explicit Versus Implicit Income

Author(s)/Creator(s)

Thomas J. Kniesner, Syracuse UniversityFollow
James P. Ziliak, University of Oregon and University of of Wisconsin

Description/Abstract

By supplementing income explicitly through payments or implicitly through taxes collected, income-based taxes and transfers make disposable income less variable. Because disposable income determines consumption, policies that smooth disposable income also create welfare improving consumption insurance. With data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics we find that annual consumption variation is reduced by almost 20 percent due to explicit and implicit income smoothing. Consumption insurance is as important economically as private health or automobile insurance. Although taxes have become an increasingly important source of consumption insurance, the 2001 income-tax reform legislation should have little effect on implicit consumption insurance.

Document Type

Working Paper

Date

10-2001

Keywords

consumption, implicit insurance, income taxes, transfer payments, PSID

Series

Working Papers Series

Disciplines

Economics | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Additional Information

Working paper no. 38

Recommended Citation

Kniesner, Thomas J. and Ziliak, James P., "Explicit Versus Implicit Income" (2001). Center for Policy Research. 185.
https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/185

Source

local input

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.