IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000561/019416.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fiscal policy and informality in Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • A García-Suaza
  • M G�mez
  • F Jaramillo

Abstract

This paper studies how informality reacts to fiscal policy instruments. We develop an analytical framework with a dual labor market with frictions, where the formal sector, in contrast to the informal sector, produces with technology using capital and pay taxes. We calibrate the model for the Colombian economy and quantify to what extent a decrease in payroll taxes is effective to create formal jobs in a context where government compensates for the reduction in revenues by using other fiscal instruments, such as reducing expenditure or increasing other taxes, e.g., consumption or capital income taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • A García-Suaza & M G�mez & F Jaramillo, 2021. "Fiscal policy and informality in Colombia," Documentos de trabajo - Alianza EFI 19416, Alianza EFI.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000561:019416
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://alianzaefi.com/download/fiscal-policy-and-informality-in-colombia/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael Dix-Carneiro, 2019. "Trade and Informality in the Presence of Labor Market Frictions and Regulations," 2019 Meeting Papers 144, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso & Mejía, Luis Fernando, 2012. "Formalizando la informalidad empresarial en Colombia," Chapters, in: Arango-Thomas, Luis Eduardo & Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso (ed.), El mercado de trabajo en Colombia : hechos, tendencias e instituciones, chapter 10, pages 399-427, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. James Albrecht & Lucas Navarro & Susan Vroman, 2009. "The Effects of Labour Market Policies in an Economy with an Informal Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(539), pages 1105-1129, July.
    4. Lasso-Valderrama, Francisco Javier, 2012. "La dinámica del desempleo urbano en Colombia," Chapters, in: Arango-Thomas, Luis Eduardo & Hamann-Salcedo, Franz Alonso (ed.), El mercado de trabajo en Colombia : hechos, tendencias e instituciones, chapter 3, pages 131-166, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    5. Emran, M. Shahe & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2005. "On selective indirect tax reform in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 599-623, April.
    6. Fortin, Bernard & Marceau, Nicolas & Savard, Luc, 1997. "Taxation, wage controls and the informal sector," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 293-312, November.
    7. Bosch, Mariano, 2006. "Job creation and job destruction in the presence of informal labour markets," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19785, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Dale T. Mortensen & Christopher A. Pissarides, 1994. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(3), pages 397-415.
    9. Ojeda-Joya, Jair N. & Parra-Polanía, Julián A. & Vargas, Carmiña O., 2016. "Fiscal rules as a response to commodity shocks: A welfare analysis of the Colombian scenario," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 859-866.
    10. Catalina Granda Carvajal, 2015. "Informality and macroeconomic volatility: do credit constraints matter?," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(6), pages 1095-1111, November.
    11. Arguello, Ricardo & Jimenez, Dora, 2015. "Dutch Disease, Informality, and Employment Intensity in Colombia," Conference papers 332597, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    12. Hernán Rincón-Castro & Martha Elena Delgado-Rojas, 2017. "¿Cuánto tributan efectivamente el consumo, el trabajo y el capital en Colombia?," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, vol. 47(1 y 2), pages 97-135, December.
    13. Robert M. Townsend, 1995. "Consumption Insurance: An Evaluation of Risk-Bearing Systems in Low-Income Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 83-102, Summer.
    14. Peter Fredriksson & Bertil Holmlund, 2006. "Optimal unemployment insurance design: Time limits, monitoring, or workfare?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(5), pages 565-585, September.
    15. Levenson, Alec R. & Maloney, William F., 1998. "The informal sector, firm dynamics, and institutional participation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1988, The World Bank.
    16. Costas Meghir & Renata Narita & Jean-Marc Robin, 2015. "Wages and Informality in Developing Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1509-1546, April.
    17. Tokman, Víctor E., 1982. "Unequal development and the absorption of labour: Latin America 1950-1980," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    18. Ramos, Raul & Duque, Juan C. & Surinach, Jordi, 2010. "Is the wage curve formal or informal? Evidence for Colombia," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 63-65, November.
    19. 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.
    20. Mendoza, Enrique G. & Razin, Assaf & Tesar, Linda L., 1994. "Effective tax rates in macroeconomics: Cross-country estimates of tax rates on factor incomes and consumption," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 297-323, December.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ra95789n9nrr59b6lmini6tp is not listed on IDEAS
    22. James Alm & Hugo L�pez Casta�o, 2002. "Payroll taxes in Colombia," Informes de Investigación 3316, Fedesarrollo.
    23. Catalina Granda & Franz Hamann, 2015. "Informality, Saving and Wealth Inequality," Borradores de Economia 873, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    24. Walsh, Carl E., 2003. "Labor Market Search, Sticky Prices, and Interest Rate Policies," Santa Cruz Center for International Economics, Working Paper Series qt6tg550dv, Center for International Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    25. Catalina Granda & Franz Hamann, 2015. "Informality, Saving and Wealth Inequality," Borradores de Economia 873, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    26. Walsh, Carl E., 2003. "Labor Market Search, Sticky Prices, and Interest Rate Policies," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt6tg550dv, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    27. Catalina Granda & Franz Hamann, 2015. "Informality, Saving and Wealth Inequality in Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 88196, Inter-American Development Bank.
    28. Granda, Catalina & Hamann, Franz & Tamayo, Cesar E., 2019. "Credit and saving constraints in general equilibrium: A quantitative exploration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 302-319.
    29. Mathan Satchi & Jonathan Temple, 2009. "Labor Markets and Productivity in Developing Countries," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(1), pages 183-204, January.
    30. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez & Ximena Pe�a & Daniel Wills, 2010. "Labor Market Rigidities and Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2010), pages 65-101.
    31. Fiess, Norbert M. & Fugazza, Marco & Maloney, William F., 2010. "Informal self-employment and macroeconomic fluctuations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 211-226, March.
    32. Carl E. Walsh, 2005. "Labor Market Search, Sticky Prices, and Interest Rate Policies," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 8(4), pages 829-849, October.
    33. Franz Hamann Salcedo & Juan Manuel Julio & Paulina Restrepo & Alvaro Riascos, 2004. "Inflation Targeting in a Samll Open Economy: The Colombian Case," Borradores de Economia 308, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    34. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ra95789n9nrr59b6lmini6tp is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    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. Luz Adriana Florez, 2015. "The Search and Matching Equilibrium in an Economy with an Informal Sector: A Positive Analysis of Labour Market Policies," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    2. Olivier Bargain & Eliane Badaoui & Prudence Kwenda & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2012. "The formal sector wage premium and firm size for self-employed workers," Working Papers 201207, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    3. Eliane Badaoui & Olivier Bargain & Prudence Magejo & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2023. "A Search Model with Self-Employment and Heterogeneity in Managerial Ability," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-9, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    4. Andres García-Suaza & Fernando Jaramillo & Marlon Salazar, 2023. "Tax policies, informality, and real wage rigidities," Borradores de Economia 1245, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    5. Finamor, Lucas, 2024. "Labor Market Informality, Risk, and Insurance," MPRA Paper 121662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bosch, Mariano & Esteban-Pretel, Julen, 2015. "The labor market effects of introducing unemployment benefits in an economy with high informality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1-17.
    7. Huikang Ying, 2015. "Labour Informality, Selective Migration, and Productivity in General Equilibrium," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 15/653, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    8. Albertini, Julien & Terriau, Anthony, 2019. "Informality over the life-cycle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 182-202.
    9. Shigeru Fujita, 2011. "Dynamics of worker flows and vacancies: evidence from the sign restriction approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 89-121, January/F.
    10. Kurozumi, Takushi & Van Zandweghe, Willem, 2010. "Labor market search, the Taylor principle, and indeterminacy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(7), pages 851-858, October.
    11. Antonella Trigari, 2006. "The Role of Search Frictions and Bargaining for Inflation Dynamics," Working Papers 304, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    12. Eliane Badaoui & Olivier Bargain & Prudence Kwenda & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2024. "Informality, self‐employment and heterogeneous managerial ability: A model for developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 1293-1323, March.
    13. Antonella Trigari, 2009. "Equilibrium Unemployment, Job Flows, and Inflation Dynamics," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 1-33, February.
    14. Lawrence Christiano & Mathias Trabandt & Karl Walentin, 2021. "Involuntary Unemployment and the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 39, pages 26-54, January.
    15. Imen Ben Mohamed & Marine Salès, 2015. "Credit imperfections, labor market frictions and unemployment: a DSGE approach," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01082491, HAL.
    16. Yashiv, Eran, 2007. "Labor search and matching in macroeconomics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1859-1895, November.
    17. Lawrence Christiano & Mathias Trabandt & Karl Walentin, 2021. "Involuntary Unemployment and the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 39, pages 26-54, January.
    18. Ahrens, Steffen & Wesselbaum, Dennis, 2009. "On the introduction of firing costs," Kiel Working Papers 1559, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    19. Christoffel, Kai & Kuester, Keith & Linzert, Tobias, 2009. "The role of labor markets for euro area monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(8), pages 908-936, November.
    20. Krause, Michael U. & Lubik, Thomas A., 2007. "The (ir)relevance of real wage rigidity in the New Keynesian model with search frictions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 706-727, April.

    More about this item

    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
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:col:000561:019416. 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: Alianza EFI (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.