Income Inequality and Campaign Contributions: Evidence from the Reagan Tax Cut

• In Event: Inequality and Public Policy

Brief Overview

We show that growing income inequality is associated with an increased concentration of donations among the richest citizens. We find that the 1986 Tax Reform Act, a regressive tax cut, caused a spike in contributions from citizens in the top 10 %.

Authors

• Alberto Parmigiani, London School of Economics and Political Science

• Valentino Larcinese, London School of Economics and Political Science