Labor income responds differently to income-tax and payroll-tax reforms

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Public Economics
Year: 2013
Volume: 99
Issue: C
Pages: 66-84

Authors (3)

Lehmann, Etienne (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assa...) Marical, François (not in RePEc) Rioux, Laurence (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We estimate the responses of gross labor income with respect to marginal and average net-of-tax rates in France over the period 2003–2006. We exploit a series of reforms to the income-tax and payroll-tax schedules affecting individuals who earn less than twice the minimum wage. Our estimate for the elasticity of gross labor income with respect to the marginal net-of-income-tax rate is around 0.2, while we find no response to the marginal net-of-payroll-tax rate. The elasticity with respect to the average net-of-tax rate is not significant for the income-tax schedule, while it is close to −1 for the payroll-tax schedule. A plausible explanation is the existence of significant labor supply responses to the income-tax schedule, combined with sticky posted wages (i.e., the gross labor income minus payroll taxes divided by hours worked). Finally, the effect of the net-of-income-tax rate seems to be driven by participation decisions, in particular those of married women.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:pubeco:v:99:y:2013:i:c:p:66-84
Journal Field
Public
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25