Do the rich stay unemployed longer? An empirical study for the U.K

This paper investigates the impact of individual asset holdings on the probability of leaving unemployment. According to the theory, higher levels of financial wealth will result in higher reservation wages and longer unemployment durations. I estimate the impact of beginning of period financial assets on the hazard rate, using data drawn from a UK inflow sample of the unemployed. The empirical findings indicate that individual asset holdings affect significantly the escape rate out of unemployment. In particular, negative levels of wealth increase significantly the hazard of leaving unemployment while positive levels of wealth reduce significantly the probability of leaving unemployment.unemployment;duration analysis;labour economics

Does Income Taxation Affect Partners’ Household Chores?

We study the impact of income taxation on both partners‟ allocation of time to market work and unpaid house work in households with two adults. We estimate a structural household utility model in which the marginal utilities of leisure and house work of both partners are modelled as random coefficients, depending on observed and unobserved characteristics of the household and the two partners. We use a discrete choice model with choice sets of 2,401 points for each couple, distinguishing seven market work intervals and seven house work intervals for each partner. The model is estimated using data for France, which taxes incomes of married couples jointly, like, for instance, Germany and the US. We find that both partners‟ market and non-market time allocation decisions are responsive to changes in the tax system or other policy changes that change the financial incentives. Women‟s time allocation is more responsive to the own and the partner‟s wage rate than men‟s. Tax policy simulations suggest that moving from joint taxation for married couples to separate taxation of each spouse would go a small step in the direction of equalizing market and non-market work of spouses. Selective taxation with smaller tax rates for women than for men would magnify these effects.time use;taxation;labour supply;discrete choice models

Does Income Taxation Affect Partners’ Household Chores?

We study the impact of income taxation on both partners‟ allocation of time to market work and unpaid house work in households with two adults. We estimate a structural household utility model in which the marginal utilities of leisure and house work of both partners are modelled as random coefficients, depending on observed and unobserved characteristics of the household and the two partners. We use a discrete choice model with choice sets of 2,401 points for each couple, distinguishing seven market work intervals and seven house work intervals for each partner. The model is estimated using data for France, which taxes incomes of married couples jointly, like, for instance, Germany and the US. We find that both partners‟ market and non-market time allocation decisions are responsive to changes in the tax system or other policy changes that change the financial incentives. Women‟s time allocation is more responsive to the own and the partner‟s wage rate than men‟s. Tax policy simulations suggest that moving from joint taxation for married couples to separate taxation of each spouse would go a small step in the direction of equalizing market and non-market work of spouses. Selective taxation with smaller tax rates for women than for men would magnify these effects.

Individual Wealth, Reservation Wages and Transitions into Employment

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between financial wealth, reservation wages and labour market transitions. According to the theory, higher levels of wealth will result in higher reservation wages and lower employment probabilities. We test for the validity of this assumption by estimating a simultaneous equations model of reservation wages, labour market transitions and wealth. The data used for the analysis relate to a sample of unemployed job searchers drawn from the Dutch Socio-Economic Panel. Wealth is found to have a significantly positive impact on the reservation wage. The overall impact of wealth on the employment probability is negative though small.