New Gig Work or Changes in Reporting? Understanding Self-Employment Trends in Tax Data

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2025
Volume: 17
Issue: 3
Pages: 236-70

Authors (3)

Andrew Garin (Carnegie Mellon University) Emilie Jackson (not in RePEc) Dmitri Koustas (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 show that increases in the share of workers reporting self-employment to the IRS are not associated with changes in firm-reported payments to "gig" and other contract workers after 2005 but are driven primarily by self-reported earnings of individuals in the EITC phase-in range. We examine a regression discontinuity design that generates exogenous variation in tax rates at the end of the year after labor supply decisions are already sunk and find tax code incentives increase self-employment reporting conditional on actual labor supply. We show that reporting effects have grown over time as knowledge of the tax code spreads.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:17:y:2025:i:3:p:236-70
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25