Arbeitspapier

Beyond the Labour Income Tax Wedge: The Unemployment-Reducing Effect of Tax Progressivity

In this paper we argue that, for a given overall level of labour income taxation, a more progressive tax schedule increases employment. From a theoretical point of view, higher progressivity increases overall employment through a wage moderating effect and also because employment of low-paid workers is more elastic to wages. We test these theoretical predictions on a panel of 21 OECD countries over 1998-2008. Controlling for the burden of taxation at the average wage, our estimates suggest that a more progressive tax schedule reduces the unemployment rate and increases the employment rate. These findings are confirmed when we account for the potential endogeneity of both average taxation and progressivity. Overall, our results suggest that policy-makers should not only focus on the detrimental effects of tax progressivity on in-work effort, but also consider the employment-enhancing effects.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 8276

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
Taxation and Subsidies: Incidence
Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies: Public Policy
Thema
wage moderation
employment
taxation

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Lehmann, Etienne
Lucifora, Claudio
Moriconi, Simone
Van der Linden, Bruno
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
(wo)
Bonn
(wann)
2014

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ

Datenpartner

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ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Lehmann, Etienne
  • Lucifora, Claudio
  • Moriconi, Simone
  • Van der Linden, Bruno
  • Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Entstanden

  • 2014

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