Female Labor Supply, Human Capital, and Welfare Reform

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Blundell, Richard; Costa Dias, Monica; Meghir, Costas; Shaw, Jonathan
• 署名单位: University of London; University College London; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Universidade do Porto; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: ECONOMETRICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0012-9682
• DOI: 10.3982/ECTA11576
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 1705-1753
• 关键词: work benefit reform; Life-cycle model; income-tax credit; empirical-model; married-women; consumption; optimization; decisions; BEHAVIOR; accumulation

摘要

We estimate a dynamic model of employment, human capital accumulationincluding education, and savings for women in the United Kingdom, exploiting tax and benefit reforms, and use it to analyze the effects of welfare policy. We find substantial elasticities for labor supply and particularly for lone mothers. Returns to experience, which are important in determining the longer-term effects of policy, increase with education, but experience mainly accumulates when in full-time employment. Tax credits are welfare improving in the U.K., increase lone-mother labor supply and marginally reduce educational attainment, but the employment effects do not extend beyond the period of eligibility. Marginal increases in tax credits improve welfare more than equally costly increases in income support or tax cuts.