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Taxation and female labor supply in Italy

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  • Fabrizio Colonna
  • Stefania Marcassa

Abstract

Italy has the lowest labor supply of married women among EU countries. Moreover, the participation rate of married women is positively correlated with their husbands’ income. We show that these two features can be partly explained by the tax system: a high tax rate together with tax credits and transfers raise the burden of two-earner households, generating disincentives to work. We estimate two structural models of labor supply: one where the husband’s labor supply is inelastic and one with joint couple decisions. Then we use the estimated parameters to simulate the effects of alternative revenue-neutral tax systems on labor supply. We find that working tax credit and gender-based taxation boost it, with the effects of the former being concentrated on low educated women. Conversely, joint taxation implies a drop in the participation rate. JEL codes: J21, J22, H31 Copyright Colonna et al.; licensee Springer. 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Fabrizio Colonna & Stefania Marcassa, 2015. "Taxation and female labor supply in Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalpo:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:1-29:10.1186/s40173-015-0030-0
    DOI: 10.1186/s40173-015-0030-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Luca Villamaina & Paolo Acciari, 2023. "Taxation and labour supply decisions: an evaluation of the earned income tax credit in Italy," Working Papers wp2023-20, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Department of Finance.
    2. Jochen Hundsdoerfer & Eva Matthaei, 2022. "Gender Discriminatory Taxes, Fairness Perception, and Labor Supply," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 78(1-2), pages 156-207.
    3. Francesca Carta, 2019. "Female labour supply in Italy: the role of parental leave and child care policies," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 539, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. International Monetary Fund, 2016. "Italy: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2016/223, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Michal Andrle & Shafik Hebous & Alvar Kangur & Mehdi Raissi, 2021. "Italy: toward a growth-friendly fiscal reform," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 385-420, April.
    6. Wei Wang & Shengbo Zhang, 2022. "The Impact of Internet Use on Rural Women’s Off-Farm Work Participation: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Brand, Claus & Obstbaum, Meri & Coenen, Günter & Sondermann, David & Lydon, Reamonn & Ajevskis, Viktors & Hammermann, Felix & Angino, Siria & Hernborg, Nils & Basso, Henrique & Hertweck, Matthias & Bi, 2021. "Employment and the conduct of monetary policy in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 275, European Central Bank.
    8. Emanuele Ciani & Roberto Torrini, 2019. "The Geography of Italian Income Inequality: Recent Trends and the Role of Employment," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 173-208.
    9. Hundsdoerfer, Jochen & Matthaei, Eva Kristina, 2020. "Gender discriminatory taxes, fairness perception, and labor supply," Discussion Papers 2020/6, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    10. Paolo Di Caro, 2017. "The contribution of tax statistics for analysing regional income disparities in Italy," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 25(1), pages 1-27, March.
    11. Francesca Fiori & Giorgio Di Gessa, 2023. "Influences on Employment Transitions around the Birth of the First Child: The Experience of Italian Mothers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 196-214, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Female labor force participation; Italian tax system; Second earner tax rate; Joint taxation; Gender-based taxation; Working tax credit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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