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Marginal tax rates and tax-favoured pension savings of the selfemployed Evidence from Sweden

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  • Selin, Håkan

    (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies)

Abstract

In recent years, the study of how individuals respond to policies that aim at promoting pension savings has emerged as a vital area of economic research. This paper adds to this literature by estimating the tax price elasticity of contributions to tax-favoured pension savings accounts on a population of self-employed individuals. I exploit a unique total data base over the Swedish population that covers the years 1999 to 2005. When using instrumental variables I obtain a tax price elasticity estimate of -0.53 and a virtual income elasticity estimate of 0.11, whereas OLS produces estimates that conflict with consumer theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Selin, Håkan, 2009. "Marginal tax rates and tax-favoured pension savings of the selfemployed Evidence from Sweden," Working Paper Series, Center for Fiscal Studies 2009:4, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uufswp:2009_004
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    Cited by:

    1. Håkan Selin, 2012. "Marginal Tax Rates and Tax‐Favoured Pension Savings of the Self‐Employed: Evidence from Sweden," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 79-100, March.
    2. Bastani, Spencer & Selin, Håkan, 2014. "Bunching and non-bunching at kink points of the Swedish tax schedule," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 36-49.
    3. NAGORE GARCIA Amparo & ROSSI Cristina & VAN SOEST Arthur, 2018. "Labour Market Decisions of the Self-Employed in the Netherlands at the Statutory Retirement Age," LISER Working Paper Series 2018-13, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    4. Amparo Nagore García & Mariacristina Rossi & Arthur Soest, 2021. "Retirement of the self-employed in the Netherlands," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 385-402, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income taxation; fringe benefits; individual pension savings; self-employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

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