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The Marginal Cost of Public Funds in OECD Countries. Hours of Work Versus Labor Force Participation

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  • Henrik Jacobsen Kleven
  • Claus Thustrup Kreiner
  • Claus Thustrup Kreiner

Abstract

A central finding of the modern labor market literature is that labor supply responses tend to be concentrated along the extensive margin (labor force participation) rather than the intensive margin (hours of work). Yet, the literature on the marginal cost of public funds (MCF) focuses solely on the intensive margin. In this paper we demonstrate that it is important to incorporate extensive labor supply responses into the analysis. Firstly, MCF becomes a function of average taxes, rather than just marginal taxes. Secondly, participation decisions and thus MCF depend on the magnitude of transfers for those out of work. Our calculations for 23 OECD countries reveal that the MCF becomes substantially higher once the participation e.ect is accounted for. This is especially the case for continental European countries where average taxes are high and benefit systems are generous.

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  • Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Claus Thustrup Kreiner, 2003. "The Marginal Cost of Public Funds in OECD Countries. Hours of Work Versus Labor Force Participation," CESifo Working Paper Series 935, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_935
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    9. Ian W. H. Parry, 2003. "Fiscal Interactions and the Case for Carbon Taxes Over Grandfathered Carbon Permits," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 385-399.
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    12. Frits Bos & Thomas van der Pol & Gerbert Romijn, 2018. "Should CBA’s include a correction for the marginal excess burden of taxation?," CPB Discussion Paper 370, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    13. Schaefer, Thilo & Peichl, Andreas & Fuest, Clemens, 2007. "Is a Flat Tax politically feasible in a grown-up Welfare State?," FiFo Discussion Papers - Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 07-6, University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics.
    14. Cretegny, Laurent & Springer, Urs & Suter, Stefan, 2007. "Chapter 9 The swiss railway investment fund," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 189-215, January.
    15. Stefan Boeters & Michael Feil & Nicole Gürtzgen, 2007. "Discrete Working Time Choice in an Applied General Equilibrium Model," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 427-427, May.
    16. Andreas PEICHL, 2008. "The Benefits of Linking CGE and Microsimulation Models - Evidence from a Flat Tax analysis," EcoMod2008 23800106, EcoMod.
    17. Fuest, Clemens & Peichl, Andreas & Schaefer, Thilo, 2007. "Is a Flat Tax Feasible in a Grown-up Welfare State?," IZA Discussion Papers 3142, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Jung, Anna & Thöne, Michael & Elschner, Christina & Ernst, Christof & Overesch, Michael & Bergs, Christian & Schaefer, Thilo, 2009. "Evaluierung von Steuervergünstigungen. Band 3: Evaluierungsberichte (zweiter Teilband). Endfassung (Herbst 2009). Forschungsauftrag Projektnummer 15/07 des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110522, September.
    19. Albouy, David & Farahani, Arash & Kim, Heejin, 2018. "Productivity and Quality-of-Life Benefits to Rural Infrastructure," Issue Reports 277657, Farm Foundation.
    20. Copenhagen Economics, 2010. "Company Car Taxation," Taxation Papers 22, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    21. Ethan M.J. Lieber & Lee M. Lockwood, 2013. "Costs and Benefits of In-Kind Transfers: The Case of Medicaid Home Care Benefits," Working Papers wp294, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    22. Michael Kloß & Oskar Krohmer, 2012. "Zur Ermittlung der Selbstfinanzierungsquote von staatlichen Förderprogrammen," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 19(03), pages 05-11, June.
    23. Dominique Gusbin & Inge Mayeres & Maud Nautet, 2009. "Working Paper 14-09 - Analyse de l’impact de différents schémas théoriques d’une taxe routière en Belgique," Working Papers 0914, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    24. Frits Bos & Thomas van der Pol & Gerbert Romijn, 2018. "Should CBA’s include a correction for the marginal excess burden of taxation?," CPB Discussion Paper 370.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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