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Would Broadening the UI Tax Base Help Low-Income Workers?

Author

Listed:
  • Duggan, Mark

    (Stanford University)

  • Guo, Audrey

    (Santa Clara University)

  • Johnston, Andrew C.

    (University of California, Merced)

Abstract

The tax base for state unemployment insurance (UI) programs varies significantly in the U.S., from a low of $7,000 annually in California to a high of $52,700 in Washington. Previous research has provided surprisingly little guidance to policy makers regarding the tradeoffs associated with this variation. In this paper, we use 37 years of data for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to estimate the impact of the UI tax base on labor-market outcomes. We find that the low tax base that exists in California and many other states (and the necessarily higher tax rates that accompany these) negatively affects labor market outcomes for part-time and other low-earning workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Duggan, Mark & Guo, Audrey & Johnston, Andrew C., 2022. "Would Broadening the UI Tax Base Help Low-Income Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 15020, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15020
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson, Patricia M. & Meyer, Bruce D., 2000. "The effects of the unemployment insurance payroll tax on wages, employment, claims and denials," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1-2), pages 81-106, October.
    2. Andrew C. Johnston, 2021. "Unemployment Insurance Taxes and Labor Demand: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Administrative Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 266-293, February.
    3. Audrey Guo & Andrew C. Johnston, 2021. "The Finance of Unemployment Compensation and Its Consequences," Public Finance Review, , vol. 49(3), pages 392-434, May.
    4. Guo, Audrey, 2020. "The Effects of Unemployment Insurance Taxation on Multi-Establishment Firms," MPRA Paper 97919, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Duggan & Audrey Guo & Andrew C. Johnston, 2023. "Experience Rating as an Automatic Stabilizer," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 109-133.
    2. Guo, Audrey, 2024. "Payroll tax incidence: Evidence from unemployment insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment insurance; tax base; payroll taxes; experience rating;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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