Research
Job Market Paper
Abstract: In this paper, I investigate the perceived valuation of the implicit contribution incentives provided by public pension systems. I take advantage of the unique setting offered by the public pension system in Spain, where self-employed workers can voluntarily determine the level of their Social Security contributions. Using quasi-experimental variations arising from three pension reforms, I find that (i) only 10.35\% of self-employed individuals respond to the substantial contribution incentives offered by the Spanish public pension system; (ii) responses are more pronounced when contribution incentives are more salient; (iii) a significant proportion of self-employed individuals overcontribute in cases where contributions yield no pension return. My results suggest that taxpayers face challenges in valuing the implicit contribution incentives of earnings-related public pension systems. I conclude that more salient Social Security contribution incentives could potentially lead to substantial efficiency gains.
I was awarded the Alexandre Pedrós prize for the best paper presented by young economists at the 28th Meeting on Public Economics.
Working Paper
"Incidence and Avoidance Effects of Spatial Fuel Tax Differentials: Evidence using Regional Tax Variation in Spain." with José M. Labeaga. PSE Working Paper 2022-32.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the effect of spatial tax differentials on fuel tax pass-though and sales responses. We use two-way fixed effects methods to exploit regional variation in diesel excise taxes in Spain. Using a dataset containing daily diesel prices for the universe of petrol stations in Spain, we find that diesel tax pass-through is asymmetric depending on the sign of tax differentials with bordering regions. Petrol stations bordering with lower tax regions pass-through only 56% of fuel taxes, petrol stations bordering with higher tax regions pass-through 120% of fuel taxes. We provide evidence to attribute the asymmetric spatial incidence of fuel taxes to the market power given by the competitive tax advantage relative to competitors. Furthermore, we use diesel sales data aggregated at the province level and we find significant spatial tax avoidance responses to regional fuel tax differentials.
Work in Progress
"Uncovering the Channels of Bunching to the First Income Tax Kink: Evidence using Administrative Income Tax Records in Spain."
Abstract: In this paper, I study the channels of behavioral responses to income taxes, with particular focus on the clarity of the income tax schedule and the availability of tax deductions. For this, I implement a bunching design to study the excess concentration of taxpayers around the threshold of income that allows not paying taxes, which is known as the first kink of the income tax schedule. I estimate taxpayers' bunching behavior for 35 years of administrative income tax data for Spain. I compare the bunching behavior of taxpayers for income tax schedules in Spain that differ in the clarity of the first kink and depending on the availability of income tax deductions.
"Income Mobility and the Inequality in Life Expectancy: Ex-ante Distributional Implications for Pension Systems." with Antoine Bozio, Simon Rabaté and Maxime Tô.
Abstract: In this paper, we study the distributional implications of the income gradient of life expectancy from an ex-ante perspective, that is, at the time of making Social Security contributions. Using French data on taxpayers' income and mortality, we first estimate how mortality is associated with income class at a certain age, accounting for income mobility across the life cycle. We then calculate its ex-ante distributional implications for pension systems and the Social Security contribution schedule that could mitigate these effects. We find that (i) income mobility moderates the estimated income gradient of life expectancy and its ex-ante distributional implications for pension systems, (ii) differential mortality induces a sizeable implicit tax to the returns to contributions made by males and those with lowest incomes, (iii) the Social Security schedule that could mitigate the ex-ante regressive effect of differential mortality is more progressive under moderate income mobility across the life cycle and when governments are willing to redistribute from males to females.