Forces Shaping Hours in the OECD 1960 - 2004
appendixForthcoming American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to examine the role of taxes and productivity growth as forces influencing market hours. To achieve this goal, the paper considers a calibrated growth model extended to include home production and subsistence consumption, both of which are found to be key features influencing market hours. The model is simulated for 15 OECD countries. The primary force driving changes in market hours is found to be changing labor income tax rates and productivity catch-up relative to the United States is found to be an important secondary force.
Trends in Male and Female Market and Home Hours: A Cross-Country Study
Joint with Lei Fang - Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Preliminary -- please do not cite without permission
Abstract
It has become widely recognized that trends in market hours worked vary across countries. Much work has been done trying to understand that forces that influence market hours. More traditional models, like the one used by Prescott (2004) focus on forces than influence the trade-off between market work and leisure. Other models, like Rogerson (2007), Ragan (2005) and, McDaniel (2009) include home production. Each find that home production is a key channel influencing the forces that shape market hours. Aguiar and Hurst (2006) Ramey and Francis (2006) have documented trends in market hours, home production and leisure in the United States. In this paper, we document time trends in market work and home production making use of data available from the Multi-National Time Use Study to document time allocation trends for a set of industrialized countries for men, women both sexes. We observe that labor force participation and market hours worked per female have increased and home production time by men has increased in all countries. We find much of the aggregate differences in market hours to be driven by differences in female labor supply. We construct and calibrate a model of household division of labor that we use to generate changes in female labor force participation and male and female market hours and home production. We take cross country gender productivity differences, income tax rates and distribution of single and married households as give and find that the model generates series for female labor participation, home and market hours that are very sensitive to differences in income tax rates and productivity.
Tax data series updated 10/18/2009
Average tax rates on consumption, investment, labor and capital in the OECD 1950-2003
Abstract
This paper develops a method for calculating average tax rates on consumption and investment expenditures and labor and capital income. Tax rates are constructed for 15 OECD countries over the period 1950-2003. Total tax revenue is divided into revenue generated from four different sources: consumption expenditures, investment expenditures, labor income and capital income. To find the average tax rate, tax revenue from each source is then divided by the appropriate income or expenditure base. Other researchers have used a similar methodology previously e.g., Mendoza, Razin and Tesar (1994) and Carey and Rabesona (2002). However this series covers more countries for a longer time period. Mendoza et al. and Carey and Rabesona use OECD Revenue Statistics available in 1965. For this paper, national account publications from the OECD are used, which are available from 1950 onward. This allows for the calculation of a long time series for a broad set of countries.
These tax rates have been used by Ohanian, Raffo and Rogerson (2006) and Hendricks, McDaniel and Ohanian (2007).