Einkommensmultiplikator

Einkommensmultiplikator, also known as the income multiplier, is an economic concept that describes the process by which an initial change in spending leads to a larger change in aggregate income. This phenomenon occurs because the initial spending becomes income for someone else, who then spends a portion of that income, which in turn becomes income for another person, and so on. The multiplier effect is a key component of Keynesian economics.

The size of the multiplier depends on the marginal propensity to consume (MPC), which is the fraction of an additional dollar of income that households spend. A higher MPC leads to a larger multiplier. Conversely, if a significant portion of additional income is saved (i.e., the marginal propensity to save is high), the multiplier effect will be smaller. The formula for the simple income multiplier is 1 / (1 - MPC). For example, if the MPC is 0.8, the multiplier is 1 / (1 - 0.8) = 1 / 0.2 = 5. This means that an initial increase in spending of 100 units would lead to a total increase in income of 500 units.

The income multiplier has important implications for fiscal policy. Governments can use changes in spending or taxation to influence aggregate demand. An increase in government spending, for instance, can have a magnified impact on the economy through the multiplier effect. Similarly, tax cuts can increase disposable income, leading to higher consumption and a multiplied increase in economic output. However, the actual multiplier in the real world is often smaller than the theoretical simple multiplier due to factors such as leakages like taxes, savings, and imports, as well as time lags in spending decisions.