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Tax Structure and Female Labour Market Participation: Evidence from Ireland

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  • Callan, Tim

    (ESRI, Dublin)

  • van Soest, Arthur

    (Tilburg University)

  • Walsh, John R.

    (ESRI, Dublin)

Abstract

How great an effect does the structure of income taxes have on women’s labour market participation? This issue is investigated using a discrete choice static labour supply model for married couples in Ireland. The model incorporates fixed costs of working and simultaneously explains participation decisions and preferred hours of work. Details of the tax system are fully incorporated, and key elements of the welfare system are also taken into account. The model is estimated using data from the 1994 wave of the Living in Ireland Survey. The results are used to analyse the labour supply effects of a move to greater independence in the tax treatment of couples. The influence of tax structure on participation is reconsidered in the light of trends in women’s participation in the labour market and two key changes in the structure of taxation: a shift from a joint or aggregated basis of assessment to an “income-splitting” system in 1980 and a further substantial shift from income-splitting towards greater independence from 2000 onwards.

Suggested Citation

  • Callan, Tim & van Soest, Arthur & Walsh, John R., 2007. "Tax Structure and Female Labour Market Participation: Evidence from Ireland," IZA Discussion Papers 3090, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3090
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    Cited by:

    1. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Neumann, Michael & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2018. "Labor Supply under Participation and Hours Constraints: An Extended Structural Model for Policy Evaluations," IZA Discussion Papers 12003, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Olivier Bargain & Tim Callan, 2010. "Analysing the effects of tax-benefit reforms on income distribution: a decomposition approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Håkan Selin, 2014. "The rise in female employment and the role of tax incentives. An empirical analysis of the Swedish individual tax reform of 1971," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(5), pages 894-922, October.
    4. International Monetary Fund, 2008. "France: Selected Issues," IMF Staff Country Reports 2008/074, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Watson, Dorothy & Maitre, Bertrand & Whelan, Christopher T. & Russell, Helen, 2016. "Social Risk and Social Class Patterns in Poverty and Quality of Life in Ireland, 2004-2013," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT328.
    6. Neumann, Michael & Müller, Kai-Uwe & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2014. "Is The Equal Sharing Of Market Work And Family Duties Hampered By Financial Means Or Constraints? Evidence From A Structural Labor Supply Model With Involuntary Unemployment And Hours Constraints," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100390, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Michael Anyadike-Danes & Helena Lenihan & Mike Hart, 2009. "New Business Formation: An Important Element of Ireland's Rapid Growth Experience?," Working Papers wp380, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    8. Kai-Uwe Müller & Michael Neumann & Katharina Wrohlich, 2018. "Labor Supply under Participation and Hours Constraints," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1758, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    discrete choice; micro-simulation; labour supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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