I am forwarding Jon Kesselman's response to my column on payroll taxes and work hours that I sent to Pen-l a few days ago. >Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 10:44:31 -0800 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tom Walker) >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jon Kesselman) >Subject: Payroll Tax Ceilings, Employment, and Work Hours > >Dear Tom Walker > and others on Tom's circulation list: > >I read Tom's column on payroll taxes and work hours >with interest. If any of you wish to delve deeper into the >economic evidence on this point, you may refer to my >recent discussion paper on "Economic Issues of >General Payroll Taxes." A couple of sections in the >paper, on both theoretical background and empirical >evidence, investigate the relationship between payroll >tax insurable (taxable) ceilings and potential effects on >employment and hours of work per employee. In fact, >the theory on this point is ambiguous (because of the >existence of scale effects as well as substitution effects, >or profit maximization as well as cost minimization in >the behaviour of firms; >see several cited articles by Bob Hart and others). The >very limited empirical literature investigating this point >also offers mixed findings (see my paper for citations). >In short, despite the rhetoric on the point of payroll >tax ceilings and adverse employment effects, there is in >fact little solid evidence to support this point or the >related policy concern or alleged cure for the problem. >My paper can be found at: >http://web.arts.ubc.ca/econ/cresppap.htm#1996 >This web page has a listing of discussion papers of the >UBC Centre for Research on Economic and Social Policy, >and if you scroll down to DP-41 (the last entry), you will >find the paper with a link that will download the entire >paper in pdf format, which can be read with Adobe >Acrobat Exchange. This is the first in the CRESP discussion >paper series available for easy downloading in this fashion, >and we intend to release all future papers in this manner. >For anyone interested in the full monograph on payroll >taxes, I expect it to be published some time in the first >half of 1997 by the Canadian Tax Foundation. (Chapter >7 of that monograph will contain further discussion of the >relation between payroll tax ceilings and employment >and work hours, but I am not planning to release that >chapter as a discussion paper prior to the monograph.) >Regards, Jon K. > >******************************** > Professor Jon Kesselman > Centre for Research on Economic > and Social Policy > c/o Department of Economics > University of British Columbia > Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1 Canada > Voice 604-822-5608 > Fax 604-822-5915 >******************************* > > > Regards, Tom Walker, [EMAIL PROTECTED], (604) 669-3286 The TimeWork Web: http://mindlink.net/knowware/worksite.htm
