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Equilibrium effects of payroll tax reductions and optimal policy design

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  • Breda, Thomas
  • Haywood, Luke
  • Wang, Haomin

Abstract

We quantify the unintended effects of a low-wage payroll tax reduction using an equilibrium search model featuring bargaining, worker and firm productivity heterogeneity, labor taxes, and a minimum wage. The decentralized economy is inefficient due to search externalities and labor market policies. We estimate the model using French data and find that a significant reduction in low-wage payroll taxes in 1995 leads to an overall improvement in economic efficiency by increasing employment and correcting existing policy distortions that disincentivize labor force participation. However, the tax reduction, by increasing labor force participation among low-productivity workers and vacancy postings by low-productivity firms, results in negative but minor spillover and reallocation effects due to congestion. We find that the optimal policy mix is a lower minimum wage and lower payroll taxes compared to the policies in place in the early 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Breda, Thomas & Haywood, Luke & Wang, Haomin, 2024. "Equilibrium effects of payroll tax reductions and optimal policy design," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:91:y:2024:i:c:s0927537124001428
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102646
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Payroll tax; Minimum wage; Equilibrium job search; Worker and firm heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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