Arbeitspapier

Earnings responses to social security contributions

This paper exploits discontinuities induced by earnings caps for social security contributions (SSC) in Germany to analyse the effect of SSC on gross labour earnings. Empirical evidence is based on two complementary approaches utilising two administrative data sets. First, employment responses to SSC at the intensive margin are identified by a modified bunching approach that is applied to kinks in the budget set generated by the earnings caps. Second, I exploit an increase ofa regional earnings cap of health and long-term care insurance as a natural experiment. In order to analyse economic incidence a difference-in-differences approach is used to estimate the effects on gross earnings. I find employment responses to be negligible and the burden of SSC to be shared equally between employers and employees. Both results turn out to be robust and are consistent with a competitive labour market model.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: DIW Discussion Papers ; No. 1489

Classification
Wirtschaft
Taxation and Subsidies: Incidence
Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy
Subject
Social Security Contributions
Tax Incidence
Labour Supply Elasticities
Labour Demand Elasticities
Bunching

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Neumann, Michael
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
(where)
Berlin
(when)
2015

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Neumann, Michael
  • Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)

Time of origin

  • 2015

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