Do regional payroll tax reductions boost employment?

B-Tier
Journal: Labour Economics
Year: 2009
Volume: 16
Issue: 5
Pages: 480-489

Authors (3)

Bennmarker, Helge (Government of Sweden) Mellander, Erik (not in RePEc) Öckert, Björn (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

Using a Difference-in-Differences approach, we evaluate the effects of a 10 percentage point reduction in the payroll tax introduced in 2002 in northern Sweden. We find no employment effects among firms existing both before and after the reform, whereas the average wage bill per employee increases by about 0.25% per percentage point reduction in the tax rate. Extending the analysis to include entry and exit of firms, we find evidence of positive effects on the number of firms and a tendency to positive employment effects. Moreover, the wage incidence estimates become insignificant when we account for entry and exit of firms.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:labeco:v:16:y:2009:i:5:p:480-489
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24