← Search

Dalton-Improving Indirect Tax Reform

Joram Mayshar; Shlomo Yitzhaki

American Economic Review 1995

A tax reform is 'Dalton-improving' if it improves social welfare for all possible social-welfare functions that conform to Hugh Dalton's principle of transfers. According to this principle, there exists a prior social ranking of households and a transfer is approved if it it distributes from high-ranking ('rich') to low-ranking ('poor') households, without altering the ranking itself. In this paper, the authors develop a procedure for identifying marginal Dalton-improving reforms in the context of indirect taxation. The methodology is illustrated using data on excise taxes in the United Kingdom. Copyright 1995 by American Economic Association.

Export
BibTeX
Sources
openalex