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Flexible Outsourcing and the Impacts of Labour Taxation in European Welfare States

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  • Erkki Koskela
  • Panu Poutvaara

Abstract

In European Welfare States, low-skilled workers are typically unionized, while the wage formation of high-skilled workers is more competitive. To focus on this aspect, we analyze how flexible international outsourcing and labour taxation affect wage formation, employment and welfare in dual domestic labour markets. Higher productivity of outsourcing, lower cost of outsourcing and lower factor price of outsourcing increase wage dispersion between the high-skilled and low-skilled workers. Increasing wage tax progression of lowskilled workers decreases the wage rate and increases the labour demand of low-skilled workers. It decreases the welfare of low-skilled workers and increases both the welfare of high-skilled workers and the profit of firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Erkki Koskela & Panu Poutvaara, 2008. "Flexible Outsourcing and the Impacts of Labour Taxation in European Welfare States," CESifo Working Paper Series 2440, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2440
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jan König & Erkki Koskela, 2013. "The Role of Profit Sharing in Dual Labour Markets with Flexible Outsourcing," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(4), pages 351-370, December.
    2. Koskela, Erkki & König, Jan, 2009. "Can Profit Sharing Lower Flexible Outsourcing? A Note," IZA Discussion Papers 4063, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Erkki Koskela & Jan König, 2008. "Flexible Outsourcing, Profit Sharing and Equilibrium Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series 2382, CESifo.
    4. Aronsson, Thomas & Koskela, Erkki, 2008. "Optimal Redistributive Taxation and Provision of Public Input Goods in an Economy with Outsourcing and Unemployment," Umeå Economic Studies 759, Umeå University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    flexible outsourcing; dual labour market; impacts of labour taxation; welfare state;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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