IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/notajo/v2017y2017i1p89-99n6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eliminating the secondary earner bias. Policy lessons from the introduction of partial individual taxation in Sweden in 1971

Author

Listed:
  • Gunnarsson Åsa

    (Professor of Tax Law, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden)

  • Eriksson Martin

    (Ph.D. in Economic History, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden)

Abstract

This paper examines the different elements included in the Swedish partial individual taxation reform in 1971. The purpose is to identify what policy lessons this reform holds for contemporary tax policy in the European Union member states that currently apply joint tax and benefit provisions. Even though contemporary circumstances have changed in relation to the historical context for Swedish reform, the common strand is that the provisions create both inactivity incentives on the labor market and low income traps for secondary earners. We suggest that a shift to individual taxation should be a part of family and social policies that promote gender equality, and that in turn should be consolidated within a sustainable idea about tax fairness.

Suggested Citation

  • Gunnarsson Åsa & Eriksson Martin, 2017. "Eliminating the secondary earner bias. Policy lessons from the introduction of partial individual taxation in Sweden in 1971," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2017(1), pages 89-99, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:notajo:v:2017:y:2017:i:1:p:89-99:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/ntaxj-2017-0006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/ntaxj-2017-0006
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/ntaxj-2017-0006?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Crafts, 2013. "Returning to Growth: Policy Lessons from History," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 255-282, June.
    2. Boskin, Michael J. & Sheshinski, Eytan, 1983. "Optimal tax treatment of the family: Married couples," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 281-297, April.
    3. Apps, Patricia F. & Rees, Ray, 1988. "Taxation and the household," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 355-369, April.
    4. Apps,Patricia & Rees,Ray, 2009. "Public Economics and the Household," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521716284.
    5. Bert Brys & Sarah Perret & Alastair Thomas & Pierce O’Reilly, 2016. "Tax Design for Inclusive Economic Growth," OECD Taxation Working Papers 26, OECD Publishing.
    6. Apps, Patricia, 1982. "Institutional inequality and tax incidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 217-242, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2018. "Optimal family taxation and income inequality," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1093-1128, October.
    2. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2016. "Optimal Taxation, Income Inequality and the Household," CESifo Working Paper Series 5845, CESifo.
    3. Yuri Andrienko & Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2015. "Gender Bias in Tax Systems Based on Household Income," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 117-118, pages 141-155.
    4. Cremer, Helmuth & Lozachmeur, Jean-Marie & Maldonado, Dario & Roeder, Kerstin, 2016. "Household bargaining and the design of couples’ income taxation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 454-470.
    5. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2022. "Inequality measurement and tax/transfer policy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(4), pages 953-984, August.
    6. Chiappori, Pierre-André & Donni, Olivier, 2009. "Non-unitary Models of Household Behavior: A Survey of the Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 4603, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Apps, Patricia & Rees, Ray, 1999. "On the taxation of trade within and between households," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 241-263, August.
    8. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2007. "The Taxation of Couples," Discussion Papers 07/21, Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Patricia Apps, 2003. "Gender, Time Use and Models of the Household," CEPR Discussion Papers 464, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    10. Apps, Patricia & Rees, Ray, 2012. "Optimal Taxation, Child Care and Models of the Household," IZA Discussion Papers 6823, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2010. "Australian Family Tax Reform and the Targeting Fallacy," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 43(2), pages 153-175, June.
    12. Patricia Apps, 2009. "Tax Reform, Targeting and the Tax Burden on Women," CEPR Discussion Papers 609, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    13. Wrede Matthias, 2003. "The Income Splitting Method: Is it Good for Both Marriage Partners?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 203-216, May.
    14. Guner, Nezih & Kaygusuz, Remzi & Ventura, Gustavo, 2012. "Taxing women: A macroeconomic analysis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 111-128.
    15. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2024. "Optimal taxation in an endogenous fertility model with non-cooperative behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 173-197, March.
    16. Koulovatianos, Christos & Schröder, Carsten & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2005. "Non-market time and household well-being," Discussion Papers 2005/11, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    17. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2011. "Relational Contracts, Taxation and the Household," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 57(2), pages 245-258, June.
    18. Elisabeth Gugl, 2009. "Income splitting, specialization, and intra‐family distribution," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 1050-1071, August.
    19. Alberto Alesina & Andrea Ichino & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2011. "Gender-Based Taxation and the Division of Family Chores," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 1-40, May.
    20. Marie-Louise Leroux & Grégory Ponthière, 2013. "Optimal prevention when coexistence matters," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 1095-1127, July.

    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:vrs:notajo:v:2017:y:2017:i:1:p:89-99:n:6. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.