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The Contribution of Payroll Taxation to Wage Inequality in France

Author

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  • Malka Guillot

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ETH Zürich - Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich])

  • Antoine Bozio

    (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - 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)

  • Thomas Breda

    (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - 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

Over the 1967-2015 period, net wage inequality has decreased in France by 25%, in contrast to the significant increase experienced by most developed countries. Less well known is the fact that labor cost inequality has actually increased by 8% over the same period. We show that, (a) standard demand-side explanations for the rise in inequality apply in France when tested using measures of labor cost (as they should be); (b) reforms to payroll taxation, jointly with increases in the minimum wage, can explain a large part of the decrease in net wage inequality, in the context of increasing market inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Malka Guillot & Antoine Bozio & Thomas Breda, 2020. "The Contribution of Payroll Taxation to Wage Inequality in France," PSE Working Papers halshs-01294599, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01294599
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01294599v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. James Harrigan & Ariell Reshef & Farid Toubal, 2016. "The March of the Techies: Technology, Trade, and Job Polarization in France, 1994-2007," Working Papers 2016-15, CEPII research center.
    2. Piketty, Thomas & Bozio, Antoine & Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Guillot, Malka, 2020. "Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S," CEPR Discussion Papers 15415, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Pora, Pierre & Wilner, Lionel, 2020. "A decomposition of labor earnings growth: Recovering Gaussianity?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Bozio, Antoine & Breda, Thomas & Guillot, Malka, 2020. "The Contribution of Payroll Taxation to Wage Inequality in France," IZA Discussion Papers 13317, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Magnac, Thierry, 2023. "Capital humain et recherche d'emploi: un mariage heureux - Human Capital and Search Models: A Happy Match," TSE Working Papers 23-1489, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    6. Francis Kramarz & Elio Nimier‐David & Thomas Delemotte, 2022. "Inequality and earnings dynamics in France: National policies and local consequences," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1527-1591, November.
    7. Bauluz, Luis & Bukowski, Pawel & Fransham, Mark & Lee, Annie Seong & López Forero, Margarita & Novokmet, Filip & Breau, Sébastien & Lee, Neil & Malgouyres, Clément & Schularick, Moritz & Verdugo, Greg, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121290, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. d'Albis, Hippolyte & Badji, Ikpidi, 2022. "Inequality within generation: Evidence from France," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 69-83.
    9. Luca Bittarello & Francis Kramarz & Alexis Maitre, 2024. "The Task Content of Occupations," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 75(1), pages 31-53.
    10. Elvire Guillaud & Matthew Olckers & Michaël Zemmour, 2020. "Four Levers of Redistribution: The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Inequality Reduction," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 444-466, June.
    11. Magnac, Thierry & Roux, Sébastien, 2021. "Heterogeneity and wage inequalities over the life cycle," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Carla Krolage & Andreas Peichl & Daniel Waldenström, 2018. "Richer or more Numerous or both? The Role of Population and Economic Growth for Top Income Shares," CESifo Working Paper Series 7385, CESifo.
    13. Pierre Cahuc, 2022. "Inequalities in the French labour market: a mixed picture," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03882550, HAL.
    14. Sébastien Bock, 2018. "Job Polarization and Unskilled Employment Losses in France," PSE Working Papers halshs-01513037, HAL.
    15. Ch.-M. CHEVALIER, 2018. "Consumption inequality in France between 1995 and 2011," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2018-07, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    16. Pierre Cahuc, 2022. "Inequalities in the French labour market: a mixed picture," Working Papers hal-03882550, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage inequality; labor cost; payroll tax; tax incidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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