Unité mixte de recherche 7235

Tax Policies and Informality in South Africa

Eliane El Badaoui, Riccardo Magnani

[en]We use a micro-macro simulation model to evaluate the effects of labor income tax policies in South Africa. The country is characterized by a high unemployment rate while employment in the informal sector is relatively low. Our approach is based on the aggregation of the preferences of individuals who choose among (i) working in the formal sector,(ii) working in the informal sector, and (iii) not working. We quantify the effects of different tax policies on the individual’s labor supply choices (formal/informal employment, work/leisure) and at the macro level (GDP, equilibrium wages, size of the informal sector, and unemployment rate). We further analyze the effects in terms of income distribution, poverty and inequality. We find that the introduction of a negative income tax system reduces inequality and poverty but, at the same time, discourages people from participating in the labor market and working in the formal sector and, consequently worsens the equitye efficiency trade-off. We find however that the equity-efficiency trade-off can be improved by introducing (i) a (revenue-neutral) tax system which combines a sufficiently high at rate (25%) and lump-sum transfer paid only to formal workers; (ii) an expansionary policy (a reduction in total taxes or an increase in public expenditures). Interestingly, even though they increase the informal sector, these reforms reduce inequality and poverty through a reduction in the level of unemployment.[/en]

AGENDA

jeudi 8 juin 2023

Doctorants

Sahil Chopra (Université Sorbonne Paris-Nord)

Economics of litigation : Securities class action with third-party funding

lundi 12 juin 2023

Law, Institutions and Economics in Nanterre (LIEN)

Arthur Silve (IAST / Univ. Laval)

TBA

jeudi 15 juin 2023

Lunch

Guillaume Pierné

TBA

lundi 19 juin 2023

Law, Institutions and Economics in Nanterre (LIEN)

Juan Mora-Sanguinetti (Banco de Espana)

TBA

mardi 20 juin 2023

Colloques et Workshops

Webinar TELE –Theoretical European Law & Economics

jeudi 22 juin 2023

Doctorants

Jules Chaperon

TBA

vendredi 1 septembre 2023

Professeurs invités

Ken Yahagi

lundi 18 septembre 2023

Colloques et Workshops

L’économie de la régulation entre intérêt public et intérêts privés : capture, conflits d’intérêts et revolving doors

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