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Income taxation, labour supply and housework: a discrete choice model for French couples

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Kabatek

    (Tilburg University [Tilburg] - Netspar)

  • Arthur van Soest

    (Tilburg University [Tilburg] - Netspar)

  • Elena Stancanelli

    (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

Earlier studies suggest that income taxation may affect not only labour supply but also domestic work. Here we investigate the impact of income taxation on partners' labour supply and housework, using data for France that taxes incomes of married couples jointly. We estimate a household utility model in which the marginal utilities of leisure and housework of both partners are modelled as random coefficients, depending on observed and unobserved characteristics. We conclude that both partners' market and housework hours are responsive to changes in the tax system. A policy simulation suggests that replacing joint taxation of married spouses' incomes with separate taxation would increase the husband's housework hours by 1.3% and reduce his labour supply by 0.8%. The wife's market hours would increase by 3.7%, and her housework hours would fall by 2.0%.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Kabatek & Arthur van Soest & Elena Stancanelli, 2014. "Income taxation, labour supply and housework: a discrete choice model for French couples," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00966801, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-00966801
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2014.01.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Leslie S. Stratton, 2020. "The determinants of housework time," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 133-133, May.
    2. Nolan, Matt, 2018. "Income-leisure preferences in New Zealand: 1988-2013," Working Paper Series 7660, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    3. repec:esr:wpaper:bp2016/1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Morgan Richards-Melamdir, 2021. "Can Progressive Taxation Address Gender Inequality in Income? Cross-National Evidence of Gender Differences in Income Tax Payment Patterns and Post-Tax Income," LIS Working papers 816, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    5. Margit Schratzenstaller & Fanny Dellinger, 2017. "Genderdifferenzierte Lenkungswirkungen des Abgabensystems," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60797, April.
    6. Nolan, Matt, 2018. "Income-leisure preferences in New Zealand: 1988-2013," Working Paper Series 20841, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    7. de Muizon, Marc Jourdain, 2018. "Why do married women work less in the UK than in France?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 86-96.
    8. Henk-Wim Boer & Egbert L. W. Jongen, 2023. "Analysing tax-benefit reforms in the Netherlands using structural models and natural experiments," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 179-209, January.
    9. de Boer, Henk-Wim & Jongen, Egbert L.W. & Kabatek, Jan, 2022. "The effectiveness of fiscal stimuli for working parents," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Amadeo Fuenmayor & Rafael Granell & Mauro Mediavilla, 2018. "The effects of separate taxation on labor participation of married couples. An empirical analysis using propensity score," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 541-561, June.
    11. Gulzida I. NEMIROVA & Yulia G. TYURINA, 2015. "Ways Of Possible Use Of Foreign Experience In Mechanism Of Tax Reduction For Individuals In Russia," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 15(2), pages 71-80.
    12. Doorley, Karina, 2018. "Taxation, Work and Gender Equality in Ireland," IZA Discussion Papers 11495, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Patricia Apps & Jan Kabátek & Ray Rees & Arthur Soest, 2016. "Labor supply heterogeneity and demand for child care of mothers with young children," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1641-1677, December.
    14. de Boer, Henk-Wim & Jongen, Egbert L. W., 2020. "Analysing Tax-Benefit Reforms in the Netherlands: Using Structural Models and Natural Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 12892, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Kabátek, Jan, 2015. "Essays on public policy and household decision making," Other publications TiSEM 8cdb178e-ad98-42e5-a7e1-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Margit Schratzenstaller & Fanny Dellinger, 2018. "Genderdifferenzierte Lenkungswirkungen des Abgabensystems auf das Arbeitsangebot," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 91(2), pages 105-120, February.
    17. Mideros Andrés & O’Donoghue Cathal, 2015. "The Effect of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Adult Labour Supply: A Unitary Discrete Choice Model for the Case of Ecuador," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 225-255, December.
    18. Karen Mumford & Antonia Parera‐Nicolau & Yolanda Pena‐Boquete, 2020. "Labour Supply and Childcare: Allowing Both Parents to Choose," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(3), pages 577-602, June.
    19. Carole Bonnet & Bruno Jeandidier & Anne Solaz, 2018. "Wage Premium and Wage Penalty in Marriage versus Cohabitation," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(5), pages 745-775.
    20. Karine Briard, 2020. "L’élasticité de l’offre de travail des femmes en France. Petite revue de méthodes et de résultats," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(5), pages 39-72.
    21. Melanie Schröder & Norma Burow, 2016. "Couple's Labor Supply, Taxes, and the Division of Housework in a Gender-Neutral Lab," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1593, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Time use; Taxation; Discrete choice models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions

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