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The Cost of Gender Identity Norms: Evidence from a Spouse Tax Credit

Author

Listed:
  • Tommaso Giommoni
  • Enrico Rubolino

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of tax incentives on economic behavior within the household. We focus on an Italian tax policy that grants a large tax credit to main earners if their spouses, designated as “dependent spouses” by the tax law, report income below a certain threshold. Combining a novel administrative dataset with a bunching approach, we find that second-earner women adjust their income to benefit from the tax credit, while second-earner men do not. Second-earner women holding more conservative gender norms are the ones who mostly reduce their income. This suggests that tax policies can exacerbate economic inequalities among families and depress female labor market outcomes when they interact with entrenched gender norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Tommaso Giommoni & Enrico Rubolino, 2024. "The Cost of Gender Identity Norms: Evidence from a Spouse Tax Credit," CESifo Working Paper Series 11311, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11311
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Henrik J. Kleven & Mazhar Waseem, 2013. "Using Notches to Uncover Optimization Frictions and Structural Elasticities: Theory and Evidence from Pakistan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 669-723.
    2. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2006. "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 23-48, Spring.
    3. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 1996. "Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 139-158, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    spouse tax credit; income taxation; gender norms; bunching; household behavior; female labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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