The effects of taxation on married women's labour supply across four countries

The labour force participation rate of married women varies considerably between European countries. There may be several explanations for this evidence. In this study, the effect of the different income tax schemes on female labour force participation is investigated and compared. A common labour supply function is estimated on cross-section household samples for each of the countries Britain, Denmark, Ireland, and East and West Germany. Based on the estimated labour supply functions, we calculate for each of the countries the hypothetical part time and fun time participation rates of married women if the households were taxed by either separate or split taxation principles, as in Britain and Ireland, respectively. The results suggest that the design of the tax scheme is highly important for the economic incentives that married women face and their resulting labour supply behaviour.