TY  - JOUR
AU  - Slemrod,Joel
AU  - Kopczuk,Wojciech
TI  - The Optimal Elasticity of Taxable Income
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7922
PY  - 2000
Y2  - September 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7922
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7922.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Joel Slemrod
University of Michigan Business School
701 Tappan Street
Room R5396
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1234
Tel: 734/936-3914
Fax: 734-615-4323
E-Mail: jslemrod@umich.edu

Wojciech Kopczuk
Columbia University
420 West 118th Street, Rm. 1022 IAB
MC 3323
New York, NY  10027
Tel: 212/854-2519
Fax: 212/864-8059
E-Mail: wk2110@columbia.edu
AB  - The strength of the behavioral response to a tax rate change depends on the environment individuals operate in, and may be manipulated by instruments controlled by the government.  We first derive a measure of the social benefit to affecting this elasticity.  The paper then examines this effect in the solution to the optimal income taxation problem when such an instrument is available, first in a general model and then in an example when the government chooses the income tax base.
ER  -