Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000092/020744.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tax policies, informality, and real wage rigidities

Author

Listed:
  • Andres García-Suaza
  • Fernando Jaramillo
  • Marlon Salazar
Abstract
Developing countries have a vast informal sector generally associated with low productivity levels. The response of informal employment to tax policies might depend on labor market rigidities. This paper proposes a theoretical framework consisting of a search and matching model with segmentation in the labor market to understand how tax policies and enforcement interact to determine the size of the formal sector. The analytical results show that decreasing payroll taxes increases formal employment demand, and enforcement expenditure decreases informal employment offers. The model suggests that a tax policy combination leads to a significant impact on informality reduction. Moreover, the magnitude of the effect of tax policies depends on real wage rigidities, i.e., when the economy faces high real wage rigidities, the tax policies have a higher effect on informality reduction

Suggested Citation

  • Andres García-Suaza & Fernando Jaramillo & Marlon Salazar, 2023. "Tax policies, informality, and real wage rigidities," Documentos de Trabajo 20744, Universidad del Rosario.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000092:020744
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repository.urosario.edu.co/server/api/core/bitstreams/606d1d30-eb0c-4229-82e5-74a2344da932/content
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael Dix-Carneiro, 2019. "Trade and Informality in the Presence of Labor Market Frictions and Regulations," 2019 Meeting Papers 144, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877, April.
    3. James Albrecht & Lucas Navarro & Susan Vroman, 2009. "The Effects of Labour Market Policies in an Economy with an Informal Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(539), pages 1105-1129, July.
    4. Maloney, William F., 2004. "Informality Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1159-1178, July.
    5. Mortensen, Dale & Pissarides, Christopher, 2011. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 1-19.
    6. Martin, Christopher & Wang, Bingsong, 2020. "Search, shirking and labor market volatility," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    7. David Bardey & Daniel Mejia, 2019. "Informality and Optimal Public Policy," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Spring 20), pages 1-19, April.
    8. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2014. "Informality and Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 109-126, Summer.
    9. Maiti, Dibyendu & Bhattacharyya, Chandril, 2020. "Informality, enforcement and growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 259-274.
    10. Ulyssea, Gabriel, 2010. "Regulation of entry, labor market institutions and the informal sector," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 87-99, January.
    11. Aruoba, S. Borağan, 2021. "Institutions, tax evasion, and optimal policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 212-229.
    12. Daniel Haanwinckel & Rodrigo R Soares, 2021. "Workforce Composition, Productivity, and Labour Regulations in a Compensating Differentials Theory of Informality [Search with Multi-worker Firms]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(6), pages 2970-3010.
    13. Costas Meghir & Renata Narita & Jean-Marc Robin, 2015. "Wages and Informality in Developing Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1509-1546, April.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ra95789n9nrr59b6lmini6tp is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Arturo Antón, 2014. "The effect of payroll taxes on employment and wages under high labor informality," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, December.
    16. Friedrich Schneider & Dominik Enste, 1999. "Shadow Economies Around the World - Size, Causes, and Consequences," CESifo Working Paper Series 196, CESifo.
    17. Cristina Fernandez & Leonardo Villar, 2017. "The Impact of Lowering the Payroll Tax on Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 125-155, November.
    18. Rita Almeida & Pedro Carneiro, 2012. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and Informality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 64-89, July.
    19. Rafael Dix-Carneiro & Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Costas Meghir & Gabriel Ulyssea, 2021. "Trade and Domestic Distortions: the Case of Informality," NBER Working Papers 28391, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Rocha, Rudi & Ulyssea, Gabriel & Rachter, Laísa, 2018. "Do lower taxes reduce informality? Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 28-49.
    21. Bosch, Mariano & Esteban-Pretel, Julen, 2015. "The labor market effects of introducing unemployment benefits in an economy with high informality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1-17.
    22. Diamond, Peter A, 1982. "Aggregate Demand Management in Search Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(5), pages 881-894, October.
    23. Catalina Granda Carvajal & Franz Hamann, 2020. "On the Aggregate Implications of Removing Barriers to Formality," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 102(2), pages 203-220, May.
    24. Gabriel Ulyssea, 2020. "Informality: Causes and Consequences for Development," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 525-546, August.
    25. Costas Meghir & Renata Narita & Jean-Marc Robin, 2015. "Wages and Informality in Developing Countries," SciencePo Working papers hal-03587627, HAL.
    26. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez & Ximena Peña & Daniel Wills, 2010. "Labor Market Rigidities and Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2010), pages 65-101, August.
    27. Gabriel Ulyssea, 2018. "Firms, Informality, and Development: Theory and Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(8), pages 2015-2047, August.
    28. Sangeeta Pratap & Erwan Quintin, 2006. "The Informal Sector in Developing Countries: Output, Assets and Employment," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-130, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    29. Dominik H. Enste & Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "Shadow Economies: Size, Causes, and Consequences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 77-114, March.
    30. Charlot, Olivier & Malherbet, Franck & Terra, Cristina, 2015. "Informality in developing economies: Regulation and fiscal policies," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-27.
    31. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    32. Rafael Dix-Carneiro, 2019. "Trade and Informality in the Presence of Labor Market Frictions and Regulations," 2019 Meeting Papers 144, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Otero-Cortés & Alexander Villegas Mendoza & Oriana Álvarez Vos & Karina Acosta, 2023. "Caracterización de la oferta y demanda de trabajo en la Región Caribe," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 318, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

    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. Salazar, M., 2021. "Tax policies, informality, and real wage rigidities," Documentos de trabajo - Alianza EFI 20044, Alianza EFI.
    2. Albertini, Julien & Terriau, Anthony, 2019. "Informality over the life-cycle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 182-202.
    3. Niklas Engbom & Gustavo Gonzaga & Christian Moser & Roberta Olivieri, 2022. "Earnings inequality and dynamics in the presence of informality: The case of Brazil," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1405-1446, November.
    4. Eliane Badaoui & Olivier Bargain & Prudence Magejo & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2023. "A Search Model with Self-Employment and Heterogeneity in Managerial Ability," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-9, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    5. Luz Adriana Florez, 2015. "The Search and Matching Equilibrium in an Economy with an Informal Sector: A Positive Analysis of Labour Market Policies," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, August.
    6. Manuel Fernández & Gabriela Serrano, 2022. "New Perspectives on Inequality in Latin America," Documentos CEDE 20295, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Bobba, Matteo & Flabbi, Luca & Levy, Santiago & Tejada, Mauricio, 2021. "Labor market search, informality, and on-the-job human capital accumulation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 223(2), pages 433-453.
    8. Blagica Petreski & Marjan Petreski, 2022. "Unregistered micro-performers of business activity in North Macedonia: Analysis with recommendations for a policy action," Finance Think Policy Studies 2022-07/43, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.
    9. Hernando Gutierrez, Luis & Rodriguez-Lesmes, Paul, 2023. "Productivity gaps at formal and informal microfirms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Andrea Otero-Cortés, 2022. "Heterogeneous Returns of Informality: Evidence From Brazil," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 20176, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    11. Matteo Bobba & Luca Flabbi & Santiago Levy, 2022. "Labor Market Search, Informality, And Schooling Investments," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 211-259, February.
    12. Flabbi, Luca & Tejada, Mauricio M., 2023. "Are informal self-employment and informal employment as employee behaviorally distinct labor force states?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    13. Amodio, Francesco & Medina, Pamela & Morlacco, Monica, 2022. "Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development," IZA Discussion Papers 15477, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Edoardo Di Porto & Leandro Elia & Cristina Tealdi, 2017. "Informal work in a flexible labour market," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(1), pages 143-164.
    15. Deng, Guoying & Du, Pengcheng & Hernandez, Manuel A. & Xu, Shu, 2024. "Corporate taxes and labor market informality evidence from China," IFPRI discussion papers 2244, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Camila Cisneros-Acevedo & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2022. "Firms, policies, informality, and the labour market," Discussion Papers 2022-11, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    17. Renata Narita, 2020. "Self-Employment in Developing Countries: A Search-Equilibrium Approach," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 35, pages 1-34, January.
    18. Brambilla, Irene & César, Andrés & Falcone, Guillermo & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2023. "The impact of robots in Latin America: Evidence from local labor markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    19. Ulyssea, Gabriel & Ponczek, Vladimir, 2018. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and the Labor Market Effects of Trade: Evidence from Brazil," IZA Discussion Papers 11783, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Esteban-Pretel, Julen & Kitao, Sagiri, 2021. "Labor Market Policies in a Dual Economy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informality; payroll taxes; fiscal policy; enforcement; search frictions; shirking; developing countries.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E26 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Informal Economy; Underground Economy
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

    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:col:000092:020744. 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: Facultad de Economía (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferosco.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.