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Employer Wage Subsidy Caps and Part-Time Work

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  • Joel Elvery
  • C. Lockwood Reynolds
  • Shawn M. Rohlin

Abstract

Hiring credits and employer wage subsidies are tools that policymakers have available to attempt to improve labor market conditions for workers. This study explores how capped-wage subsidies affect firms’ labor market decisions, in particular, their reliance on part-time and low-skill workers. We focus on the federal Empowerment Zone program, which offers firms in targeted areas a 20 percent wage subsidy (capped at $3,000 per year) for each employee who also resides in the Empowerment Zone. Results using different methods of identification suggest that firms respond to capped-wage subsidies by expanding their use of part-time workers, particularly where the subsidy cap is likely to bind. We also provide evidence of a shift toward lower-skill workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Elvery & C. Lockwood Reynolds & Shawn M. Rohlin, 2021. "Employer Wage Subsidy Caps and Part-Time Work," Working Papers 21-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedcwq:89398
    DOI: 10.26509/frbc-wp-202101
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage subsidies; hiring credits; part-time work;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

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