IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lbo/lbowps/2005_11.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On Substituting Consumption Taxes for Unemployment Insurance Contributions to Reduce Unemployment

Author

Abstract

The German conservative party (consisting of two sister parties) planned in case of victory in the national election on 18 September 2005 to reduce the unemployment insurance contributions by 2 percent and to finance this with an increase in the consumption tax by 2 percent. The present paper shows in a Layard-Nickell-Jackman type wage bargaining model that this tax reform does not reduce unemployment; neither in the short to medium run, nor in the long run. When there is short-to-medium-run real wage resistance, then in the short to medium run unemployment depends on the overall tax burden, but not on the composition of the tax burden. In the long run the wage setting curve is vertical and hence in the long run unemployment is even invariant of the overall tax burden.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomas Kögel, 2005. "On Substituting Consumption Taxes for Unemployment Insurance Contributions to Reduce Unemployment," Discussion Paper Series 2005_11, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Sep 2005.
    • Handle: RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2005_11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ec/RePEc/lbo/lbowps/Kogel-ECP05-11.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173.
    2. Fuest, Clemens & Huber, Bernd, 2000. "Is tax progression really good for employment? A model with endogenous hours of work," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 79-93, January.
    3. Creedy, John & McDonald, Ian M, 1992. "Union Wage Responses to a Shift from Direct to Indirect Taxation," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 221-232, July.
    4. Pierre Picard & Eric Toulemonde, 2001. "On the Equivalence of Taxes Paid by Employers and Employees," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 48(4), pages 461-470, September.
    5. Burda, Michael & Wyplosz, Charles, 2017. "Macroeconomics: a European Text," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 7, number 9780198737513.
    6. Jochen Michaelis & Michael Pflüger, 2000. "The impact of tax reforms on unemployment in a SMOPEC," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 175-201, June.
    7. Koskela, Erkki & Schob, Ronnie, 1999. "Does the composition of wage and payroll taxes matter under Nash bargaining?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 343-349, September.
    8. Clemens Fuest & Bernd Huber, 1997. "Wage bargaining, labor-tax progression, and welfare," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 127-150, June.
    9. Pierre M. Picard & Eric Toulemonde, 2003. "Taxation and Labor Markets," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 78(1), pages 29-56, January.
    10. Ben Lockwood & Alan Manning, 1993. "Wage Setting and the Tax System: theory and Evidence for the UK," CEP Discussion Papers dp0115, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Goerke, Laszlo, 1996. "Taxes on Payroll, Revenues and Profits in Three Models of Collective Bargaining," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 43(5), pages 549-565, November.
    12. Goerke, Laszlo, 2001. "Tax Evasion in a Unionised Economy," IZA Discussion Papers 382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Carlin, Wendy & Soskice, David, 2005. "Macroeconomics: Imperfections, Institutions, and Policies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198776222.
    14. Lockwood, Ben & Manning, Alan, 1993. "Wage setting and the tax system theory and evidence for the United Kingdom," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-29, August.
    15. repec:bla:scotjp:v:48:y:2001:i:4:p:461-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Goerke, Laszlo, 2000. "Labour Taxation, Efficiency Wages and the Long Run," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 341-352, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albert Jan Hummel & Bas Jacobs, 2018. "Optimal Income Taxation in Unionized Labor Markets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-064/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    2. Michaelis, Jochen & Birk, Angela, 2006. "Employment- and growth effects of tax reforms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 909-925, December.
    3. Hummel, Albert Jan & Jacobs, Bas, 2023. "Optimal income taxation in unionized labor markets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    4. Boeters, Stefan & Böhringer, Christoph & Feil, Michael, 2002. "Taxation and unemployment: an applied general equilibrium approach for Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-39, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Daniel Cardona & Fernando Sánchez-Losada, 2004. "The Unemployment Benefit System: a Redistributive or an Insurance Institution?," DEA Working Papers 8, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Departament d'Economía Aplicada.
    6. Bertil Holmlund, 2002. "Labor Taxation in Search Equilibrium with Home Production," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 3(4), pages 415-430, November.
    7. Martin Weiss, 2009. "Higher Tax Rates on Labor? Evidence from German Panel Data," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 65(1), pages 73-92, March.
    8. José Ramón García & José Vicente Ríos, 2004. "Effects Of Tax Reforms In A Shirking Model With Union Bargaining," Working Papers. Serie AD 2004-42, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    9. Boeters, Stefan, 2011. "Optimal tax progressivity in unionised labour markets: What are the driving forces?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 2282-2295, September.
    10. Marco de Pinto, 2012. "Unemployment Benefits as Redistribution Scheme for Trade Gains - A Positive Analysis," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201204, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    11. Bohringer, Christoph & Boeters, Stefan & Feil, Michael, 2005. "Taxation and unemployment: an applied general equilibrium approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 81-108, January.
    12. Laszlo Goerke, 2000. "The Wedge," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 68(5), pages 608-623, September.
    13. Van der Linden, Bruno, 1998. "Fighting unemployment without worsening povety: Basic income versus reductions of social security contributions," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 1999028, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES), revised 00 Oct 1999.
    14. Etienne Lehmann & Claudio Lucifora & Simone Moriconi & Bruno Van der Linden, 2016. "Beyond the labour income tax wedge: the unemployment-reducing effect of tax progressivity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(3), pages 454-489, June.
    15. de Pinto, Marco, 2012. "Unemployment Benefits as Redistribution Scheme of Trade Gains - a Positive Analysis," VfS Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 66059, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Florian Dorn & Clemens Fuest & Björn Kauder & Luisa Lorenz & Martin Mosler & Luisa Dörr, 2017. "The removal of the middle class bulge - models and costs," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 77.
    17. Boeters, Stefan, 2002. "Tax Progressivity and the Trade Union's Fallback-Option," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-15, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2012:i:092 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Marco de Pinto, 2012. "The Redistribution of Trade Gains and the Equity-Efficiency Trade-Off," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201206, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    20. Aronsson, Thomas & Wikström, Magnus, 2011. "Optimal Tax Progression: Does it Matter if Wage Bargaining is Centralized or Decentralized?," Umeå Economic Studies 829, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    21. Pierre M. Picard & Éric Toulemonde, 2001. "De quel côté du marché du travail prélever les impôts ?. Nouveaux éléments théoriques," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 149-156.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumption taxes; unemployment insurance contributions; payroll taxes. wage bargaining; unemployment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2005_11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Huw Edwards (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/delbouk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.