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The Rise of Pass-Throughs and the Decline of the Labor Share

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  • Matthew Smith
  • Danny Yagan
  • Owen Zidar
  • Eric Zwick

Abstract

We study the coevolution of the fall in the US corporate-sector labor share and the rise of business activity in tax-preferred pass-throughs. We find that reallocating activity to the form it would have taken prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986 accounts for one-third of the decline in the corporate-sector labor share between 1978 and 2017. Our adjustments are concentrated among mid-market firms in services, magnifying the role of the manufacturing sector and superstar firms in driving the remaining decline in the labor share. Our findings highlight the importance of tax policy when measuring factor shares.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Smith & Danny Yagan & Owen Zidar & Eric Zwick, 2022. "The Rise of Pass-Throughs and the Decline of the Labor Share," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 323-340, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:4:y:2022:i:3:p:323-40
    DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210268
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    Cited by:

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    2. Adhikari, Bibek & Alm, James & Harris, Timothy F., 2021. "Small business tax compliance under third-party reporting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    3. Bellocchi, Alessandro & Marin, Giovanni & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2023. "The labor share puzzle: Empirical evidence for European countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Hubert Drazkowski & Sebastian Zalas, 2023. "The evolution of labor share in Poland. New evidence from firm-level data," GRAPE Working Papers 82, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    5. Sebastian Zalas & Hubert Drążkowski, 2023. "The Evolution of the Labour Share in Poland: New Evidence from Firm-Level Data," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 13-33.
    6. Perri, Fabrizio & Atkeson, Andy & Heathcote, Jonathan, 2022. "The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 17268, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Amy Finkelstein & Casey McQuillan & Owen Zidar & Eric Zwick, 2023. "The Health Wedge and Labor Market Inequality," Working Papers 2023-01, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    8. Catherine Laffineur & Maria Minniti & Benjamin Montmartin, 2023. "Does Knowledge in Management Foster Firm Creation and Performance?," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-19, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    9. Bilicka, Katarzyna & Raei, Sepideh, 2023. "Output distortions and the choice of legal form of organization," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Francesco Furno, 2021. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Corporate Tax Reforms," Papers 2111.12799, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General

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