The employment effects of low-wage subsidies

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Huttunen, Kristiina; Pirttila, Jukka; Uusitalo, Roope
• 署名单位: Aalto University; Tampere University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2012.09.007
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 49-60
• 关键词: Low-wage subsidies; EMPLOYMENT; Social security contributions

摘要

Low-wage subsidies are often proposed as a solution to the unemployment problem among the low skilled but the empirical evidence on their effects is still scarce. This paper examines the employment effects of a Finnish payroll tax subsidy scheme, which is targeted at the employers of older, full-time, low-wage workers. The system's clear eligibility criteria open up an opportunity for a reliable estimation of the causal impacts of the subsidy scheme. Our results indicate that the subsidy system had no effect on the employment rate or wages of the eligible groups, but it increased slightly working hours among those already at work. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.