Unemployment Benefits Versus Conditional Negative Income Taxes

Author/Editor:

Dennis J. Snower

Publication Date:

July 1, 1995

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

The paper analyzes the wage-employment effects of replacing unemployment benefits by negative income taxes. It first surveys the major equity and efficiency effects of unemployment benefits versus negative income taxes, and summarizes the salient features of many European unemployment benefit systems in this light. Second, it presents a simple theoretical model that focuses on the relative wage-employment effects of unemployment benefits versus negative income taxes. Finally, it provides some empirical groundwork for assessing this relative effect

Series:

Working Paper No. 1995/065

Subject:

Employment Expenditure Income tax systems Labor Personal income tax Taxes Unemployment Unemployment benefits

English

Publication Date:

July 1, 1995

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451848649/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA0651995

Pages:

22

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