Jonathan Goupille-Lebret

jonathan.goupille-lebret     (at)ens-lyon.fr

Affiliations:

CNRS Associate Professor, CERGIC and Departement of Economics, ENS de Lyon

CEPR and CESifo Research Affiliate

World Inequality Lab and EU Tax Observatory Research Fellow


CURRICULUM VITAE

Research:

Working Papers:

Updated 2024: Tax Design, Information, and Elasticities: Evidence From the French Wealth Tax, with Bertrand Garbinti, Mathilde Munoz, Stefanie Stantcheva and Gabriel Zucman, CEPR DP18206, 2023. Revisions Requested by Review of Economic Studies.

       Abstract: Using exhaustive administrative wealth and income tax data, we study a French wealth tax reform that scaled back information reporting requirements below a certain wealth threshold. We develop a dynamic bunching approach that permits estimating the average response to the reform, the share of compliers, and the LATE. Reported wealth declines sharply in response to the reform and annual wealth growth rates are on average 20% lower among affected taxpayers. This decline appears due to increased evasion facilitated by the lower reporting requirements, as suggested by the fall in self-reported wealth but the lack of response in third-party-reported labor and capital incomes. By contrast, the elasticities to tax rates estimated are very small and insignificant. This illustrates the critical role of information reporting policies in shaping taxpayers’ behavior.

 Updated 2024: Markups, Taxes, and Rising Inequality, with Stephane Auray, Aurelien Eyquem and Bertrand Garbinti, CEPR DP17590, 2022. Revisions Requested by Journal of the European Economic Association.

        Abstract: We analyze income and wealth inequality dynamics through the lens of an heterogeneous-agent model with three key features: (i) an explicit link between firms’ markups and top income shares, (ii) a granular representation of the tax and transfer system, and (iii) three assets with endogenous portfolio decisions. Using counterfactual analyzes, we look at how changes in markups, taxes, factor productivity, and asset prices affected inequalities between 1984 and 2018 in France. Rising markups account for the bulk of rising pretax income inequality. The drivers of rising wealth inequality are more complex. Rising markups and changes in taxes contribute to raise wealth inequality by increasing pretax income inequality and inequality in saving rates between wealth groups. Asset prices – the boom in housing prices – mechanically redistribute wealth from top and bottom wealth groups to the upper middle wealth group, whose wealth is mostly held in the form of housing, but are partly offset by a rise in saving rates of top wealth groups. Our results highlight the key role of endogenous saving decisions in response to exogenous variables as a key driver of wealth inequality.


Publications:


 Abstract: We construct series of post-tax income for France over the 1900-2018 period and compare them with U.S. series. We quantify the extent of redistribution and estimate the impact of redistribution vs pretax inequality on post-tax inequality. We obtain three major findings. First, redistribution has increased in both countries to reach similar levels today. Second, the long-run decline in post-tax inequality in France is due mostly to the fall in pretax inequality. Third, the relative lower post-tax inequality in France is entirely explained by differences in pretax inequality. This suggests that more attention should be paid to policies affecting pretax inequality. [Old 2018 WP] 





Articles in French:


Other:

Dissemination of scientific knowledge:

in English:

in French:

Co-organizer of the workshops EconNomicSday at "ENS de Lyon"

https://en.economics-ens-lyon.com/workshops-economicsday