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Why Governments Should Tax Mobile Capital in the Presence of Unemployment

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Author Info
Erkki Koskela (University of Helsinki and CESifo)
Ronnie Schöb (Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg and CESifo)

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Abstract

This paper shows that a small open economy that suffers from involuntary unemployment should levy a positive source-based tax on capital income. A revenue-neutral tax reform that increases the capital tax rate and reduces the labour tax rate will induce firms to substitute labour for capital. Such a tax reform will lower the marginal cost of production, increase output, reduce unemployment, and increase domestic welfare as long as the labour tax rate exceeds the capital tax rate. The result holds even though trade unions might succeed in subsequently increasing the net-of-tax wage rate, if the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour is above a critical value (which is itself below one). Finally, and importantly, independent of the size of the elasticity of substitution, the government can promote wage moderation and reduce unemployment by increasing the personal tax credit of employed workers instead of reducing the labour tax rate.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Berkeley Electronic Press in its journal Contributions to Economic Analysis & Policy.

Volume (Year): 1 (2002)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages: 1004-1004
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Handle: RePEc:bep:eapcon:v:1:y:2002:i:1:p:1004-1004

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Related research
Keywords: capital taxation labour taxation involuntary unemployment trade unions

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb & Hans-Werner Sinn, 1998. "Pollution, Factor Taxation and Unemployment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 379-396, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Ken Binmore & Ariel Rubinstein & Asher Wolinsky, 1986. "The Nash Bargaining Solution in Economic Modelling," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(2), pages 176-188, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Assaf Razin & Efraim Sadka, 1991. "International Tax Competition and Gains from Tax Harmonization," NBER Working Papers 3152, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Huizinga, Harry & Nielsen, Soren Bo, 1997. "Capital income and profit taxation with foreign ownership of firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 149-165, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Guesnerie Roger & Laffont Jean-jacques, 1978. "Taxing price makers," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 7806, CEPREMAP.
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  6. Holm, Pasi & Honkapohja, Seppo & Koskela, Erkki, 1994. "A monopoly-union model of wage determination with capital and taxes: An empirical application to the Finnish manufacturing," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 285-303, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bucovetsky, Sam & Wilson, John Douglas, 1991. "Tax competition with two tax instruments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 333-350, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Gordon, Roger H & Bovenberg, A Lans, 1996. "Why Is Capital So Immobile Internationally? Possible Explanations and Implications for Capital Income Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1057-75, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Eggert, Wolfgang & Haufler, Andreas, 1999. "Capital taxation and production efficiency in an open economy," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 85-90, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Gordon, Roger H, 1986. "Taxation of Investment and Savings in a World Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1086-1102, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Nickell, Stephen, 1997. "Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 55-74, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Koskela, Erkki & Vilmunen, Jouko, 1996. "Tax progression is good for employment in popular models of trade union behaviour," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 65-80, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Bruce, Neil, 1992. "A Note on the Taxation of International Capital Income Flows," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 68(202), pages 217-21, September.
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  14. Koskela, Erkki & Schoeb, Ronnie, 2000. "Optimal Factor Income Taxation in the Presence of Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Stefan Boeters & Kerstin Schneider, 1999. "Government versus Union. The Structure of Optimal Taxation in a Unionized Labor Market," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 56(2), pages 174-, June.
  16. Eaton, B Curtis & Lipsey, Richard G, 1978. "Freedom of Entry and the Existence of Pure Profit," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 88(351), pages 455-69, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Wolfram Richter & Kerstin Schneider, 2001. "Taxing Mobile Capital with Labor Market Imperfections," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Nash, John, 1950. "The Bargaining Problem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 18(2), pages 155-162, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ronnie Schoeb, 2001. "Public Profit Sharing," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Riedl, Arno & van Winden, Frans, 2004. "Input versus Output Taxation in an Experimental International Economy," IZA Discussion Papers 1344, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2007. "How Tax Progression Affects Effort and Employment," IZA Discussion Papers 2861, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2001. "Optimal Factor Income Taxation in the Presence of Unemployment," Discussion Papers 758, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Koskela, Erkki, 2008. "The Effects of Labour Tax Progression under Nash Wage Bargaining and Flexible Outsourcing," IZA Discussion Papers 3501, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Friedrich Breyer & Andreas Haufler, 2000. "Health Care Reform : Separating Insurance from Income Redistribution," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 205, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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