WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's 2013 tax increases for wealthy Americans neither slowed their income growth nor hurt the economy, according to a study that taps into a key debate in the current presidential race.

The top 1 percent of earners managed to increase their share of the nation's income at about the same pace after their taxes were raised as they had before, according to the study, released Thursday by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at University of California at Berkeley.

That outcome suggests that wealthier Americans did not respond to the higher taxes by either working less or saving less, as many economists often fear.

Saez and his frequent collaborator, Thomas Piketty, have helped fuel a contentious debate over income inequality with their research into income gains by the wealthiest Americans. Like their previous work, the new study uses recently released tax data from the IRS.

The findings are relevant to the presidential campaign, in which the two major nominees have put forth radically different ideas for taxing wealthier households. Saez said his research suggests that the 2013 tax increases for the wealthy didn't slow the economy, at least so far.

“The 2013 tax hike had no discernible negative effect on economic growth,” Saez said.

Still, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center concluded last month that Clinton's tax plans would result in a small hit to the economy, leaving the gross domestic product 0.2 percent smaller in 2018 than it would otherwise be.

Other economists foresee a larger impact: The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that Clinton's tax plan would put the economy 2.6 percent smaller over the next decade.