IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/umnees/0829.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Optimal Tax Progression: Does it Matter if Wage Bargaining is Centralized or Decentralized?

Author

Listed:
  • Aronsson, Thomas

    (Department of Economics, Umeå University)

  • Wikström, Magnus

    (Department of Economics, Umeå University)

Abstract

We study how the optimal use of labor income tax progression depends on whether the wage bargaining system is decentralized or centralized. Assuming a nonlinear labor income tax and an unrestricted profit tax, we show that a Utilitarian government is able to implement the first best resource allocation with a zero marginal labor income tax rate under decentralized wage bargaining, whereas centralized bargaining typically implies a progressive tax as well as unemployment. However, if the government and a (central) wage-setter bargain over wage formation and public policy, the resulting equilibrium is characterized by full employment and a zero marginal tax rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Aronsson, Thomas & Wikström, Magnus, 2011. "Optimal Tax Progression: Does it Matter if Wage Bargaining is Centralized or Decentralized?," Umeå Economic Studies 829, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:umnees:0829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.umu.se/DownloadAsset.action?contentId=163649&languageId=3&assetKey=ues829
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173, Decembrie.
    2. Aronsson, Thomas & Sjogren, Tomas, 2004. "Efficient taxation, wage bargaining and policy coordination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2711-2725, December.
    3. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2002. "Optimal Factor Income Taxation in the Presence of Unemployment," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 4(3), pages 387-404, July.
    4. Ben Lockwood & Torsten Sløk & Torben Tranaes, 2000. "Progressive Taxation and Wage Setting: Some Evidence for Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(4), pages 707-723, December.
    5. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    6. Holmlund, B. & Kolm, A.S., 1995. "Progressive Taxation, Wage Setting and Unemployment - Theory and Swedish Evidence," Papers 15, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
    7. Lawrence Summers & Jonathan Gruber & Rodrigo Vergara, 1993. "Taxation and the Structure of Labor Markets: The Case of Corporatism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 385-411.
    8. 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 174-174, June.
    9. Aronsson, Thomas & Wikstrom, Magnus & Brannlund, Runar, 1997. "Wage Determination under Non-linear Taxes: Estimation and an Application to Panel Data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(3), pages 404-418, July.
    10. Clemens Fuest & Bernd Huber, 1997. "Wage bargaining, labor-tax progression, and welfare," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 127-150, June.
    11. Thomas Aronsson & Tomas Sjögren, 2004. "Is the Optimal Labor Income Tax Progressive in a Unionized Economy?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(4), pages 661-675, December.
    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.
    13. Ben Lockwood & Alan Manning, 1993. "Wage Setting and the Tax System: theory and Evidence for the UK," CEP Discussion Papers dp0115, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    14. Giorgio Brunello & Maria Laura Parisi & Daniela Sonedda, 2002. "Labor Taxes and Wages: Evidence from Italy," CESifo Working Paper Series 715, CESifo.
    15. Lockwood, Ben & Manning, Alan, 1993. "Wage setting and the tax system theory and evidence for the United Kingdom," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-29, August.
    16. Palokangas, Tapio, 1987. "Optimal Taxation and Employment Policy with a Centralized Wage Settin g," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 799-812, December.
    17. Layard, Richard, 1982. "Is Incomes Policy the Answer to Unemployment?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 49(195), pages 219-239, August.
    18. Lockwood, Ben & Slok, Torsten & Tranaes, Torben, 2000. " Progressive Taxation and Wage Setting: Some Evidence for Denmark," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(4), pages 707-723, December.
    19. Hersoug, Tor, 1984. "Union Wage Responses to Tax Changes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 37-51, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Albert Jan Hummel & Bas Jacobs, 2018. "Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 7188, CESifo.
    2. Hummel, Albert Jan & Jacobs, Bas, 2023. "Optimal income taxation in unionized labor markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hummel, Albert Jan & Jacobs, Bas, 2023. "Optimal income taxation in unionized labor markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    2. Albert Jan Hummel & Bas Jacobs, 2018. "Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-064/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Bjørn Sandvik & Odd Rune Straume, 2004. "Good Jobs, Bad Jobs and Redistribution," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(4), pages 703-720, December.
    4. Thomas Aronsson & James R. Walker, 2010. "Labor Supply, Tax Base and Public Policy in Sweden," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 127-158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Pia Rattenhuber, 2012. "Marginal Taxes: A Good or a Bad for Wages?: The Incidence of the Structure of Income and Labor Taxes on Wages," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1193, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Dalin, Torbjörn & Stage, Jesper, 2011. "The effects of capital income taxation on wage formation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 186-188.
    7. Boeters, Stefan, 2011. "Optimal tax progressivity in unionised labour markets: What are the driving forces?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 2282-2295, September.
    8. Ronnie Schöb, 2003. "The Double Dividend Hypothesis of Environmental Taxes: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 946, CESifo.
    9. Clemens Fuest & Bernd Huber, 1997. "Wage bargaining, labor-tax progression, and welfare," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 127-150, June.
    10. Etienne Lehmann & Claudio Lucifora & Simone Moriconi & Bruno Van der Linden, 2016. "Beyond the labour income tax wedge: the unemployment-reducing effect of tax progressivity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(3), pages 454-489, June.
    11. Joanna Tyrowicz, 2009. "When Eastern Labour Markets Enter Western Europe CEECs. Labour Market Institutions upon Euro Zone Accession," Working Papers 2009-03, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    12. Boeters, Stefan, 2002. "Tax Progressivity and the Trade Union's Fallback-Option," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-15, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Aronsson, Thomas & Wehke, Sven, 2008. "Public goods, unemployment and policy coordination," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 285-298, May.
    14. Knut Røed & Steinar Strøm, 2002. "Progressive Taxes and the Labour Market: Is the Trade–off Between Equality and Efficiency Inevitable?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 77-110, February.
    15. Chun‐Chieh Huang & Juin‐Jen Chang & Hsiao‐Wen Hung, 2020. "Progressive Tax and Inequality in a Unionized Economy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(1), pages 38-80, January.
    16. Sinko, Pekka, 2004. "Progressive Taxation Under Centralised Wage Setting," Discussion Papers 349, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Gerritsen, Aart, 2017. "Equity and efficiency in rationed labor markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 56-68.
    18. Erkki Koskela & Ronnie Schöb, 2002. "Alleviating Unemployment: The Case for Green Tax Reforms," Chapters, in: Lawrence H. Goulder (ed.), Environmental Policy Making in Economies with Prior Tax Distortions, chapter 20, pages 355-378, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Bertil Holmlund, 2002. "Labor Taxation in Search Equilibrium with Home Production," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 3(4), pages 415-430, November.
    20. Hansen, Claus Thustrup & Pedersen, Lars Haagen & Slok, Torsten, 2000. "Ambiguous effects of tax progressivity -- theory and Danish evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 335-347, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimal taxation; tax progressivity; wage bargaining; corporatism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:umnees:0829. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: David Skog (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inumuse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.