This paper shows that public debt issue may be regressive given the following three conditions: (1) that the number of children varies among families, (2) that a bequest motive implies operative inter-generational transfers, and (3) that debt finance of government expenditure postpones its actual payment to the next generation. Though perhaps minor, this effect of fertility differentials ought to be considered when assessing the overall distributive incidence of debt finance as compared with tax finance.
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Economica
© 1987 London School of Economics
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