Taxes, Deadweight Loss and Intertemporal Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Panel Data
Abstract
Very few existing studies have estimated female labor supply elasticities using a U.S. panel data set, although cross-sectional studies abound. Also, most existing studies have done so in a static framework. I make an attempt to fill the gap in this literature by estimating a lifecycle-consistent specification with taxes, in a limited dependent variable framework, on a panel of married females from the PSID. Both parametric random effects and semiparametric fixed effects methods are applied. I find evidence of larger substitution effects than found in female labor supply literature with taxes, suggesting considerable distortionary effects from income taxation. The uncompensated wage elasticity is estimated at 1.4, which is comparable to estimates found in other labor supply studies with taxes. The income effect in a lifecycle-consistent specification is negative and very small. The estimate of compensated elasticity for females in the sample is 1.4 using random effects estimator and 1.35 using semiparametric fixed effect estimator. I estimate exact deadweight loss from taxes and find that deadweight loss from a 20% increase in the marginal tax rate is about 30% of tax revenue collected, evaluated at the sample mean. The deadweight loss from taxation of wife's labor income from 1980-1987, for a median household, is estimated to be 57% of tax revenue as opposed to 49% for a switch to a revenue-neutral proportional tax system. Finally, the intertemporal preference parameters are estimated using GMM.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.Bibliographic Info
Paper provided by Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University in its series Center for Policy Research Working Papers with number 61.Length: 60 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:61
Contact details of provider:
Postal: 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, New York USA 13244-1020
Phone: (315) 443-3114
Fax: (315) 443-1081
Email:
Web page: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/cpr.aspx
More information through EDIRC
Related research
Keywords:Find related papers by JEL classification:
- C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
- C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Longitudinal Data; Spatial Time Series
- J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2005-03-13 (All new papers)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Heckman, James J & Lochner, Lance & Taber, Christopher, 1998.
"Tax Policy and Human-Capital Formation,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 293-97, May.
- James J. Heckman & Lance Lochner & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Tax Policy and Human Capital Formation," NBER Working Papers 6462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Richard Blundell & Alan Duncan & Costas Meghir, 1995.
"Estimating labour supply responses using tax reforms,"
IFS Working Papers
W95/07, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
- Richard Blundell & Alan Duncan & Costas Meghir, 1998. "Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(4), pages 827-862, July.
- Hausman, Jerry A., 1980. "The effect of wages, taxes, and fixed costs on women's labor force participation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 161-194, October.
- G. Burtless & J. A. Hausman, 1977.
"The Effect of Taxation on Labor Supply: Evaluating the Gary Negative Income Tax Experiment,"
Working papers
211, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
- Burtless, Gary & Hausman, Jerry A, 1978. "The Effect of Taxation on Labor Supply: Evaluating the Gary Negative Income Tax Experiments," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(6), pages 1103-30, December.
- Blomquist, Soren, 1996. "Estimation methods for male labor supply functions How to take account of nonlinear taxes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 383-405, February.
- Richard Blundell & James Powell, 2001. "Endogeneity in nonparametric and semiparametric regression models," CeMMAP working papers CWP09/01, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
- Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2004.
"Employer Matching and 401(k) Saving: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study,"
Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
2004-18, Center for Retirement Research.
- Engelhardt, Gary V. & Kumar, Anil, 2007. "Employer matching and 401(k) saving: Evidence from the health and retirement study," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(10), pages 1920-1943, November.
- Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2007. "Employer matching and 401(k) saving: Evidence from the health and retirement study," NBER Chapters, in: Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), Public Policy and Retirement, pages 1920-1943 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2006. "Employer Matching and 401(k) Saving: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," NBER Working Papers 12447, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Gary V. Engelhardt & Anil Kumar, 2006. "Employer Matching and 401(k) Saving: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," DNB Working Papers 079, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
- Horowitz, Joel L, 1992. "A Smoothed Maximum Score Estimator for the Binary Response Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(3), pages 505-31, May.
- Dustmann, Christian & Rochina-Barrachina, María Engracia, 2000. "Selection Correction in Panel Data Models: An Application to Labour Supply and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 162, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Charlier, E. & Melenberg, B. & Soest, A.H.O. van, 1997.
"An Analysis of Housing Expenditure Using Semiparametric Models and Panel Data,"
Discussion Paper
1997-14, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
- Charlier, Erwin & Melenberg, Bertrand & van Soest, Arthur, 2001. "An analysis of housing expenditure using semiparametric models and panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 71-107, March.
- Colombino, Ugo & Del Boca, Daniela, 1989.
"The Effect Of Taxes On Labor Supply In Italy,"
Working Papers
89-30, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University.
- Ugo Colombino & Daniela del Boca, 1990. "The Effect of Taxes on Labor Supply in Italy," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(3), pages 390-414.
- Daniel Feenberg & Elisabeth Coutts, 1993. "An introduction to the TAXSIM model," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 189-194.
- Daniel Aaronson & Eric French, 2002.
"The effects of progressive taxation on labor supply when hours and wages are jointly determined,"
Working Paper Series
WP-02-22, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
- Daniel Aaronson & Eric French, 2009. "The Effects of Progressive Taxation on Labor Supply when Hours and Wages Are Jointly Determined," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(2).
- Blomquist, N Soren, 1985. "Labour Supply in a Two-Period Model: The Effect of a Nonlinear Progressive Income Tax," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 515-24, July.
- François Bourguignon & Thierry Magnac, 1990. "Labor Supply and Taxation in France," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(3), pages 358-389.
- Heckman, James J, 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(1), pages 153-61, January.
- Blundell, Richard & Meghir, Costas & Neves, Pedro, 1993. "Labour supply and intertemporal substitution," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1-2), pages 137-160, September.
- Blomquist, N. Soren, 1983. "The effect of income taxation on the labor supply of married men in Sweden," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 169-197, November.
- Chamberlain, Gary, 1980. "Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 225-38, January.
- Hausman, Jerry A, 1981. "Exact Consumer's Surplus and Deadweight Loss," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 662-76, September.
- Jerry A. Hausman, 1980. "The effect of wages, taxes, and fixed costs on women's labor force participation," NBER Chapters, in: Econometric Studies in Public Finance, pages 161-194 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Citations
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:61For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Kelly Bogart) or (Alison Kirsche).
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 references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link 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 profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

