近日，北京大学市场经济研究中心研究员李博助理教授与合作者的研究成果《Welfare implications of switching to consumption taxation》在国际期刊《Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control》2020年11月刊正式发表。

　　Abstract: We evaluate a reform of the US tax system switching to consumption taxation instead of income taxation. We do so in an environment that allows for progressivity of consumption taxes through differential tax rates between basic and non-basic consumption goods. The consumption tax system that maximizes aggregate welfare involves a 4% subsidy on basic consumption goods and a 68% tax on non-basic goods. Such a tax scheme generates 10% higher output in the long run, with a small increase in inequality. Nonetheless, the benchmark with progressive income taxes and mild consumption taxes provides higher welfare on aggregate in the steady state, and even more so if we consider the transition.