This paper outlines the methodology used by the OECD in its Taxing Wages publication, compares this approach to other measures of the effective tax rate on labour and uses recent results to illustrate its use. It argues that the strength of this methodology lies in its ability to make international comparisons of tax systems, without being affected by different population structures. However, it is limited by considering a restricted number of household types and a fairly narrow income range. Thus, this methodology should be seen as a complement to other methodologies, rather than a replacement for them.
The highly complicated nature of modern tax codes mean economists and policy makers need simplified summary measures to understand how taxes affect the economy. Studies of what is known as the effective tax rate - that is, a measurement of the net amount of tax levied on certain economic activities - provide this sort of descriptive summary. With these estimates of effective tax rates, economists can look for evidence of how taxes affect economic behaviour and policy makers can evaluate whether the net outcome of all the different tax laws is in accord with their intentions. Globalisation, with its accompanying international mobility of capital and labor, has created a new use for estimates of the effective tax rate as policy makers seek to compare tax burdens in one country with those in another.
Kemmerling deftly intertwines the efficiency theory of taxation with the political basis of taxing the working poor. . . This commendable effort in interdisciplinary study and the comparative analysis of taxation is an essential reference for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and professionals of economics, political science, and taxation systems of Europe. S. Chaudhuri, Choice Taxing the Working Poor is an inspiring read for political scientists and economists interested in the relationship between taxation and employment. Based on an elegant combination of econometric analysis and historical case studies, it shows that the alleged trade-off between employment and progressive taxation has political rather than economic roots. Philipp Genschel, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany What are the economic and political forces which generate different regimes of tax on labour? What are the implications for the labour market of these different regimes? And does globalisation bring a halt to tax-based redistribution? Achim Kemmerling tackles these and other important questions in this significant book. Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds, UK We have been distracted from the detailed problems of financing the welfare state by the tired old twentieth-century debate between libertarian tax minimisers and maximal socialist collectivisers. We have to move on. The welfare state has to be accepted and the detailed problems of taxation to sustain it have to be addressed. This well-researched and fascinating book addresses the political and institutional origins of different tax systems and points to viable strategies of redistribution and reform. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, University of Hertfordshire, UK In most industrialized countries the tax burden of poor people has increased dramatically over the last few decades. This book analyses both the political origins of this increase and its consequences for the labour market. Achim Kemmerling illustrates that tax-based redistribution and employment are not incompatible, and that the shift away from redistribution has not occurred on grounds of economic efficiency. He goes on to show that a long-term shift from capital to labour taxation has provoked conflicts of interests between workers that have weakened the political cause of tax-based redistribution. This interdisciplinary account of the political economy of taxing low wages explains the historical and structural origins of political tensions between different types of workers and their effects on the performance of labour markets. As such, it will strongly appeal to a wide-ranging audience, including academics, students and researchers with a special interest in political science, political economy, labour markets and the economics of taxation. Practitioners in the field of labour market, social and tax policies interested in the normative consequences of taxation for the labour market will also find the book to be of great interest.
This study considers advantages of relying on micro-data to assess average tax rates on labour, capital and transfer income and presents some illustrative results.
Economic theory and analysis of the impact of income tax on labour supply - focussing on individual behaviour, discusses non-linear budget constraints, measurement problems, optimal income tax, tax evasion, the effect of indirect consumption tax, and negative income tax experiments in the USA; reviews research results and research methods used in empirical studies of men and woman workers' and household behaviour in the UK and USA. Bibliography, graphs, statistical tables.
This study reports on conceptual and practical difficulties encountered in the measurement of average tax rates using aggregate data (e.g., National Accounts and Revenue Statistics).
This volume offers a number of broad introductory surveys in public economics and public finance. Divided clearly into two parts -measurement issues and taxation and economic behaviour - the collection consists of published refereed papers and several unpublished pieces.
