Francesco Furno | Searcharxiv

arXiv2021

The Macroeconomic Effects of Corporate Tax Reforms

Using aggregate, sectoral, and firm-level data, this paper examines the effects of two major U.S. corporate tax cuts. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA-17) led to large shareholder payouts but modest aggregate stimulus, while Kennedy's 1960s tax cuts stimulated output and investment with minimal payout impact. To explain this divergence, I incorporate tax depreciation policy and a pass-through business sector into a neoclassical growth model. The model suggests that accelerated depreciation and a large pass-through share dampen stimulus from corporate tax rate reductions, and that Kennedy's cuts boosted output four times more per dollar of lost revenue than the TCJA-17.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2020

The Testing Multiplier: Fear vs Containment

I study the economic effects of testing during the outbreak of a novel disease. I propose a model where testing permits isolation of the infected and provides agents with information about the prevalence and lethality of the disease. Additional testing reduces the perceived lethality of the disease, but might increase the perceived risk of infection. As a result, more testing could increase the perceived risk of dying from the disease - i.e. "stoke fear" - and cause a fall in economic activity, despite improving health outcomes. Two main insights emerge. First, increased testing is beneficial to the economy and pays for itself if performed at a sufficiently large scale, but not necessarily otherwise. Second, heterogeneous risk perceptions across age-groups can have important aggregate consequences. For a SARS-CoV-2 calibration of the model, heterogeneous risk perceptions across young and old individuals mitigate GDP losses by 50% and reduce the death toll by 30% relative to a scenario in which all individuals have the same perceptions of risk.

econ.GN↗