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Optimal Design of Earned Income Tax Credits: Evidence from a British Natural Experiment

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  • Andrew Leigh

Abstract

With many countries considering the adoption of a system of earned income tax credits, it is useful to analyze how different types of credits affect labor supply and earnings. This paper focuses on a 1999 reform to the UK tax credit system, which increased the value of the credit and reduced the phase-out rate. Using panel data, with individual fixed effects, I compare eligibles and ineligibles within five groups: all individuals; those whose demographic characteristics predict that they will have low earnings; single women; women in couples; and men in couples. Over a 15-month period, boosting the credit appears to have raised the labor participation rates, hours, and earnings of those who were eligible to receive it.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Leigh, 2005. "Optimal Design of Earned Income Tax Credits: Evidence from a British Natural Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 488, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:dpaper:488
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    File URL: https://www.cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEPR/DP488.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Azmat, Ghazala Yasmeen, 2006. "The incidence of an earned income tax credit: evaluating the impact on wages in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19859, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breunig, 2014. "Channels of labour supply responses of lone parents to changed work incentives," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(4), pages 916-939.
    3. Jacob Nielsen Arendt & Christophe Kolodziejczyk, 2019. "The Effects of an Employment Bonus for Long-Term Social Assistance Recipients," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 412-427, December.
    4. Nabil Annabi & Youssef Boudribila & Simon Harvey, 2013. "Labour supply and income distribution effects of the working income tax benefit: a general equilibrium microsimulation analysis," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-33, December.
    5. Lane Kenworthy, 2008. "Government Benefits, Inequality and Employment," LIS Working papers 472, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    6. Chiara Daniela Pronzato, 2015. "Fighting Lone Mothers’ Poverty Through In-Work Benefits: Methodological Issues and Policy Suggestions," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(1), pages 95-122.
    7. Chiara Daniela Pronzato, 2014. "Fighting Lone Mothers’ Poverty through In-Work Benefits. Methodological Issues and Policy Suggestions," CHILD Working Papers Series 23, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    8. Ghazala Azmat, 2006. "The impact of tax credits on labour supply," Economics Working Papers 979, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jul 2009.
    9. Pronzato, Chiara D., 2012. "Comparing Quasi-Experimental Designs and Structural Models for Policy Evaluation: The Case of a Reform of Lone Parental Welfare," IZA Discussion Papers 6803, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Olivier Bargain, 2012. "Decomposition analysis of distributive policies using behavioural simulations," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(5), pages 708-731, October.
    11. Fanny Moffette & Dorothée Boccanfuso & Patrick Richard & Luc Savard, 2013. "Estimating the Impact of the Québec’s Work Incentive Program on Labour Supply: An Ex Post Microsimulation Analysis," Cahiers de recherche 13-01, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    12. Leon Bettendorf & Kees Folmer & Egbert Jongen, 2013. "The dog that did not bark: The EITC for single mothers in the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 229, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    13. Tehmina S. Khan & Mr. John Norregaard, 2007. "Tax Policy: Recent Trends and Coming Challenges," IMF Working Papers 2007/274, International Monetary Fund.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    working families’ tax credit; earned income tax credit; wage subsidies; labor supply; earnings; self-reported health status;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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