IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v34y2002i7p865-876.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Employment effects of payroll taxes - an empirical test for Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Bauer
  • Regina Riphahn

Abstract

This study tests to what degree the incidence of payroll taxes in Germany is on employment and whether in consequence payroll taxes, in particular social insurance contributions, are the culprit behind the growing unemployment problem. Using industry level data for 18 years (1977-1994) a system of five dynamic factor demand equations is estimated. Various simulations indicate that the employment effects of payroll taxes are minimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Bauer & Regina Riphahn, 2002. "Employment effects of payroll taxes - an empirical test for Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(7), pages 865-876.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:34:y:2002:i:7:p:865-876
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840110058914
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840110058914
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036840110058914?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nadiri, M Ishaq & Rosen, Sherwin, 1969. "Interrelated Factor Demand Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(4), pages 457-471, Part I Se.
    2. Schmidt, Christoph M, 1994. "Relative Wage Effects of German Unions," CEPR Discussion Papers 918, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Gerard A. Pfann, 1996. "Adjustment Costs in Factor Demand," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1264-1292, September.
    4. Gruber, Jonathan, 1997. "The Incidence of Payroll Taxation: Evidence from Chile," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages 72-101, July.
    5. Stephen Nickell & D Nicolitsas, 1994. "Wages," CEP Discussion Papers dp0219, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Rossana, Robert J, 1990. "Interrelated Demands for Buffer Stocks and Productive Inputs: Estimates for Two-Digit Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(1), pages 19-29, February.
    7. Flaig, Gebhard & Steiner, Viktor, 1989. "Stability and Dynamic Properties of Labour Demand in West German Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 51(4), pages 395-412, November.
    8. Timo Tyrväinen, 1995. "Real Wage Resistance and Unemployment: Multivariate Analysis of Cointegrating Relations in 10 OECD Countries," OECD Jobs Study Working Papers 10, OECD Publishing.
    9. Keane, Michael P & Prasad, Eswar S, 1996. "The Employment and Wage Effects of Oil Price Changes: A Sectoral Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(3), pages 389-400, August.
    10. Hart, Robert A. & McGregor, Peter G., 1988. "The returns to labour services in West German manufacturing industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 947-963, April.
    11. Jonathan Gruber & Alan B. Krueger, 1991. "The Incidence of Mandated Employer-Provided Insurance: Lessons from Workers' Compensation Insurance," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 5, pages 111-144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Kornelius Kraft, 1997. "Hiring and Dismissal Costs in Theory and Practice: A Comparison of Institutional Constraints and Employment Adjustment Patterns in Six OECD Countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 341-368, August.
    13. Machin, Stephen & Manning, Alan, 1997. "Minimum wages and economic outcomes in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 733-742, April.
    14. Stephen Machin & Alan Manning, 1992. "Minimum Wages," CEP Discussion Papers dp0080, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. H. König & W. Pohlmeier, 1988. "Employment, Labour Utilization and Procyclical Labour Productivity," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 551-572, November.
    16. Juan Dolado & Francis Kramarz & Steven Machin & Alan Manning & David Margolis & Coen Teulings, 1996. "The Economic Impact of Minimum Wages in Europe," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00353896, HAL.
    17. Steiner, Viktor, 1996. "Employment and Wage Effects of Social Security Financing: An Empirical Analysis of the West German Experience and some Policy Simulations," ZEW Discussion Papers 96-14, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. König Heinz, 1976. "Neoklassische Investitionstheorie und Investorenverhalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 190(4), pages 316-348, April.
    19. Konig, Heinz & Pohlmeier, Winfried, 1988. "Employment, Labour Utilization and Procyclical Labour Productivity," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 551-572.
    20. Entorf, Horst & Konig, Heinz & Pohlmeier, Winfried, 1992. " Labor Utilization and Nonwage Labor Costs in a Disequilibrium Macro Framework," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(1), pages 71-83.
    21. Kraft, Kornelius, 1997. "Hiring and Dismissal Costs in Theory and Practice: A Comparison of Institutional Constraints and Employment Adjustment Patterns in Six OECD Countries," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 341-368.
    22. Gruber, Jonathan, 1994. "The Incidence of Mandated Maternity Benefits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 622-641, June.
    23. Summers, Lawrence H, 1989. "Some Simple Economics of Mandated Benefits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 177-183, May.
    24. Felix FitzRoy & Michael Funke, 1994. "Real wages, investment and employment: New evidence from West German sectoral data," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 130(2), pages 258-272, June.
    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. Adam Wagstaff, 2010. "Social health insurance reexamined," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 503-517, May.
    2. Kemmerling, Achim, 2002. "The employment effects of different regimes of welfare state taxation: An empirical analysis of core OECD countries," MPIfG Discussion Paper 02/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    3. Immervoll, Herwig, 2002. "The distribution of average and marginal effective tax rates in European Union Member States," EUROMOD Working Papers EM2/02, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Skedinger, Per, 2014. "Effects of Payroll Tax Cuts for Young Workers," Working Paper Series 1031, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    5. Thomas Leoni & Margit Schratzenstaller, 2020. "Senkung der Lohnnebenkosten und Finanzierungsvarianten. Bisherige Erkenntnisse und internationale Reformbeispiele," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 66851, February.
    6. Leila E. Davis & Charalampos Konstantinidis & Yorghos Tripodis, 2017. "A proposal for a federalized unemployment insurance mechanism for Europe," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 92-116, April.
    7. Dieckhoener, Caroline & Peichl, Andreas, 2009. "Financing Social Security: Simulating Different Welfare State Systems for Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 4135, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Anton Gidehag & Niklas Rudholm, 2021. "How Do Firms Respond to Reduced Labor Costs? Evidence from the 2007 Swedish Payroll Tax Reform," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 315-338, September.
    9. Hörnig, Lukas, 2023. "Regional employment effects of the Hartz-reforms," Ruhr Economic Papers 1033, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    10. Sven Schreiber, 2012. "Estimating the natural rate of unemployment in euro-area countries with co-integrated systems," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(10), pages 1315-1335, April.
    11. Guisan, M.C. & Aguayo, E., 2006. "Employment by Sector in the European Union, the United States, Mexico and Canada, 1985-2005," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 6(1), pages 21-34.
    12. Sonia A. Agudelo & Hector Sala, 2016. "Wage setting in the Colombian manufacturing industry," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 24(1), pages 99-134, January.
    13. ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (Mannheim) (ed.), 2006. "Evaluation der Maßnahmen zur Umsetzung der Vorschläge der Hartz-Kommission. Arbeitspaket 1: Wirksamkeit der Instrumente. Modul 1d: Eingliederungszuschüsse und Entgeltsicherung. Endbericht," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110487.
    14. Vincent Charlet & Philippe Frocrain, 2017. "Les limites des allégements de charges sur les bas salaires," Working Papers hal-01695167, HAL.
    15. Daniela Sonedda, 2006. "A structural VAR approach on labour taxation policies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 95-114.
    16. Thalmaier, Anja, 1999. "Bestimmungsgründe von Fehlzeiten: Welche Rolle spielt die Arbeitslosigkeit?," IZA Discussion Papers 62, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    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. Kim, Jinyoung & Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2022. "Labor market institutions and the incidence of payroll taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    2. María F. Prada & Graciana Rucci & Sergio S. Urzúa, 2015. "The Effect of Mandated Child Care on Female Wages in Chile," NBER Working Papers 21080, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. María F. Prada & Graciana Rucci & Sergio S. Urzúa, 2015. "The Effect of Mandated Child Care on Female Wages in Chile," NBER Working Papers 21080, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jonathan Gruber, 2000. "Disability Insurance Benefits and Labor Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(6), pages 1162-1183, December.
    5. Xinxin Ma & Jie Cheng, 2020. "The Impact of Social Insurance Contributions on Firms Employment and Wages: Evidence from China Employer-Employee Matching Survey Data," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(1), pages 42-60, March.
    6. Andres J. Vargas, 2011. "The Effect of Social Security Contributions on Coverage and Wages: A Gender Perspective Using a Natural Experiment from Colombia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(2), pages 476-501, October.
    7. Nielsen, Ingrid & Smyth, Russell, 2008. "Who bears the burden of employer compliance with social security contributions? Evidence from Chinese firm level data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 230-244, June.
    8. Franz, Wolfgang & Profit, Stefan, 1994. "Wege aus der Unterbeschäftigung im Weissbuch der EU-Kommission: Eine kritische Würdigung," Discussion Papers 15, University of Konstanz, Center for International Labor Economics (CILE).
    9. Erwin Ooghe & Erik Schokkaert & Jef Flechet, 2003. "The Incidence of Social Security Contributions: An Empirical Analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 30(2), pages 81-106, June.
    10. Cruces, Guillermo & Galiani, Sebastian & Kidyba, Susana, 2010. "Payroll taxes, wages and employment: Identification through policy changes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 743-749, August.
    11. Sandro Gronchi & Sergio Nisticò, 2008. "Theoretical Foundations Of Pay‐As‐You‐Go Defined‐Contribution Pension Schemes," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 131-159, May.
    12. Alfonso Arpaia & Giuseppe Carone, 2004. "Do labour taxes (and their composition) affect wages in the short and the long run? - Alfonso Arpaia and Giuseppe Carone," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 216, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    13. Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2003. "The labor market effects of payroll taxes in a middle-income country: evidence from Colombia," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0306, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    14. Komamura, Kohei & Yamada, Atsuhiro, 2004. "Who bears the burden of social insurance? Evidence from Japanese health and long-term care insurance data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 565-581, December.
    15. Christine Jolls, 2007. "Employment Law and the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 13230, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Kevin J. Murphy, 2003. "A General Equilibrium Model of the Payroll Tax Incidence of State Unemployment Insurance Systems," Public Finance Review, , vol. 31(1), pages 44-65, January.
    17. Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2009. "Labor Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 335-358, January.
    18. David M. Cutler & Brigitte C. Madrian, 1998. "Labor Market Responses to Rising Health Insurance Costs: Evidence on Hours Worked," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(3), pages 509-530, Autumn.
    19. Alfonso Arpaia & Giuseppe Carone, 2004. "Do labour taxes (and their composition) affect wages in the short and in the long run?," Public Economics 0411004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2003. "The Labor Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in a Middle-Income Country: Evidence from Colombia," IZA Discussion Papers 852, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm

    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:taf:applec:v:34:y:2002:i:7:p:865-876. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.