Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/20891 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
1999
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 55
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In order to alleviate unemployment it is often recommended to reduce social security contributions (SSC) and to compensate for the ensuing loss in revenues by a rise in the value-added tax (VAT). Assuming unemployment to be caused by efficiency wages, it is shown that a balanced-budget shift from a payroll tax to a VAT will increase employment if the rise in the VAT does not alter consumer prices. If the effects of a shift from SSC to the VAT on the worker's effort are neutralised, for example, by imposing a constant wedge, the employment impact will depend on the nature of the unemployment compensation system.
Subjects: 
Efficiency wages
social security contributions
unemployment
value-added tax
JEL: 
H25
J41
J32
H24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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