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Improving the Modeling of Couples' Labour Supply

Author

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  • Robert Breunig
  • Deborah Cobb-Clark
  • Xiaodong Gong
Abstract
We study the work hours of Australian couples, using a neoclassical labour-supply model in which couples choose from a small, realistic set of possible wife-husband working hour combinations. We introduce three improvements to this standard model. First, we allow partners' preferences about non-market time to be correlated. We also correct the estimates to accunt for the fact that we estimate the non-observable wage rates of individuals who do not work. Lastly, we allow each individual's preferences for nonmarket time to be correlated with her or his wage rate. These changes, which substantially enhance the realism of the standard, discretized labour-supply model, also have an important impact on the results. We estimate the model using HILDA data and find wage elasticities of labour supply - 0.26 for men and 0.50 for women - that are twice as large as those found without these three innovations. Using simulation methods, we then analyze the expected impact of the 2005/06 Australian tax reform. As a result of the tax cuts, we expect working hours to increase by 1.7 per cent for both men and women and household after-tax incomes to increase by approximately $60 per week on average. For families with two wage earners, each earning between $25,000 and $55,000 per year, our model predicts an after-tax increase in income of $38 after accounting for these labour supply effects - much larger than the Australian Government's own prediction of $12, which does not allow for labour supply effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Breunig & Deborah Cobb-Clark & Xiaodong Gong, 2005. "Improving the Modeling of Couples' Labour Supply," CEPR Discussion Papers 499, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:dpaper:499
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    File URL: https://www.cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEPR/DP499.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Breunig & Xiaodong Gong & Anthony King, 2012. "Partnered Women's Labour Supply and Child‐Care Costs in Australia: Measurement Error and the Child‐Care Price," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(s1), pages 51-69, June.
    2. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2014. "Labour Supply Models," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Handbook of Microsimulation Modelling, volume 127, pages 167-221, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Löffler, Max & Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2013. "Validating Structural Labor Supply Models," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79819, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. De Luca, Giuseppe & Rossetti, Claudio & Vuri, Daniela, 2012. "In-Work Benefits for Married Couples: An Ex-Ante Evaluation of EITC and WTC Policies in Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 6739, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Guyonne Kalb, 2009. "Children, Labour Supply and Child Care: Challenges for Empirical Analysis," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(3), pages 276-299, September.
    6. Pacifico, Daniele, 2009. "A behavioral microsimulation model with discrete labour supply for Italian couples," MPRA Paper 14198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Robert Breunig & Joseph Mercante, 2010. "The Accuracy of Predicted Wages of the Non‐Employed and Implications for Policy Simulations from Structural Labour Supply Models," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(272), pages 49-70, March.
    8. Hielke BUDDELMEYER & Guyonne KALB, 2008. "Labour Supply and Welfare Participation in the Australian Population: Using Observed Job Search to Account for Involuntary Unemployment," EcoMod2008 23800020, EcoMod.
    9. Daniele Pacifico, 2009. "A behavioral microsimulation model with discrete labour supply for Italian couples," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0065, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    10. Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breunig, 2017. "Childcare Assistance: Are Subsidies or Tax Credits Better?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 38, pages 7-48, March.
    11. Jeremy Lawson & Crystal Ossolinski, 2010. "Employment Composition: A Study of Australian Employment Growth, 2002–2006," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2010-04, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    12. Johnson, Shane & Breunig, Robert & Olivo-Villabrille, Miguel & Zaresani, Arezou, 2024. "Individuals’ responsiveness to marginal tax rates: Evidence from bunching in the Australian personal income tax," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breuing, 2011. "Estimating Net Child Care Price Elasticities of Partnered Women With Pre-School Children Using a Discrete Structural Labour Supply-Child Care Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 653, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    14. Robert Breunig & Andrew Weiss & Chikako Yamauchi & Xiaodong Gong & Joseph Mercante, 2011. "Child Care Availability, Quality and Affordability: Are Local Problems Related to Labour Supply?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(276), pages 109-124, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family Labour Supply; Australia; Simulated Maximum Likelihood; Discretized Structural Model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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