The Effects of Tax Wedges on Hours Worked and Unemployment in Sweden /

The paper investigates the relationship between labor taxation and unemployment in Sweden by estimating a labor market model that includes a wage-setting locus and labor demand and supply relationships. The study simulates the effect of a 1 percentage point increase in the payroll tax and in total t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thomas, Alun
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 1998.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 1998/152
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:The paper investigates the relationship between labor taxation and unemployment in Sweden by estimating a labor market model that includes a wage-setting locus and labor demand and supply relationships. The study simulates the effect of a 1 percentage point increase in the payroll tax and in total tax rates. The increase in the payroll tax pushes up labor costs by about 1\2 percent over a 5-10 year time horizon. Hours worked fall by 0.5 percent and the unemployment rate rises by 0.3 percentage point. The increase in total tax rates generates a similar result. Therefore, it appears that increases in taxes have adversely affected employment and unemployment in Sweden.
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Physical Description:1 online resource (25 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students