This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Discreteness and the Welfare Cost of Labour Supply Tax Distortions

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Keshab Bhattarai (University of Hull)
John Whalley (Universities of Warwick and Western Ontario, and NBER)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We compare the welfare costs of tax distortions of labour supply in one and two member household discrete and continuous labour supply (leisure consumption) choice models. In the discrete models taxes induce a large response from a subset of the population, while the majority of the population exhibits unchanged behaviour. In contrast the majority of the population reacts to tax changes in continuous models. Models are made comparable by calibrating to the same aggregate uncompensated labour supply elasticities in discrete and continuous models. The welfare costs of similar taxes are significantly different when individuals face discrete labour supply choices than when they choose working hours continuously, and vary with tax rates in different ways. Analysis of results from these models show that discrete choice matters in the assessment of the costs of labour supply tax distortions.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://economics.uwo.ca/econref/WorkingPapers/researchreports/wp2002/wp2002_3.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics in its series UWO Department of Economics Working Papers with number 20023.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: May 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:uwo:uwowop:20023

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Department of Economics, Reference Centre, Social Science Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2
Phone: 519-661-2111 Ext.85228
Web page: http://economics.uwo.ca/econref/WorkingPapers/

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords: Discreteness labour supply welfare taxes equilibrium

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please 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.:
  1. Richard Blundell, 1992. "Labour supply and taxation: a survey," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 15-40, January.
  2. Kahn, Shulamit & Lang, Kevin, 1991. "The Effect of Hours Constraints on Labor Supply Estimates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(4), pages 605-11, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Piggott, John & Whalley, John, 1996. "The Tax Unit and Household Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 398-418, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Stewart, M.B. & Swaffield, J.K., 1996. "Constraints on the Desired Hours of Work of British Men," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 468, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  5. Ian Walker & Ian Preston, 1999. "Welfare measurement in labour supply models with nonlinear budget constraints," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 343-361. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Dickens, William T & Lundberg, Shelly J, 1993. "Hours Restrictions and Labor Supply," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 34(1), pages 169-92, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Macurdy, T. & Green, D. & Paarsch, H., 1990. "Assessing Empirical Approaches For Analyzing Taxes And Labor Supply," Papers e-90-11, Stanford - Hoover Institution.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please 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.)

  1. Olivier Bargain & Nicolas Moreau, 2002. "Is the collective model of labor supply useful for tax policy analysis ? A simulation exercise," DELTA Working Papers 2002-21, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Parry, Ian & Goulder, Lawrence & Williams III, Roberton, 1997. "When Can Carbon Abatement Policies Increase Welfare? The Fundamental Role of Distorted Factor Markets," Discussion Papers dp-97-18-rev, Resources For the Future. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS also indexes software components.

This page was last updated on 2008-8-16.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.