nep-cis New Economics Papers
on Confederation of Independent States
Issue of 2009‒07‒11
two papers chosen by
Anna Y. Borodina
Perm State University

  1. Does Labor Supply Respond to a Flat Tax? Evidence from the Russian Tax Reform By Duncan, Denvil; Sabirianova Peter, Klara
  2. Real Exchange Rate, Output and Oil: Case of Four Large Energy Producers By Korhonen, Iikka; Mehrotra, Aaron

  1. By: Duncan, Denvil (Georgia State University); Sabirianova Peter, Klara (Georgia State University)
    Abstract: We exploit the exogenous change in marginal tax rates created by the Russian flat tax reform of 2001 to identify the effect of taxes on labor supply of males and females. We apply the weighted difference-in-difference regression approach and instrumental variables to the labor supply function estimated on individual panel data. The mean regression results indicate that the tax reform led to a statistically significant increase in male hours of work but had no effect on that of females. However, we find a positive response to tax changes at both tails of the female hour distribution. We also find that the reform increased the probability of finding a job among both males and females. Despite significant variation in individual responses, the aggregate labor supply elasticities are trivial and suggest that reform-induced changes in labor supply were an unlikely explanation for the amplified personal income tax revenues that followed the reform.
    Keywords: labor supply, personal income tax, flat tax, labor supply elasticity, difference-in-difference, regression discontinuity, wage endogeneity, employment participation, Russia, transition
    JEL: H3 J2 J3 P2
    Date: 2009–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4257&r=cis
  2. By: Korhonen, Iikka (BOFIT); Mehrotra, Aaron (BOFIT)
    Abstract: We assess the effects of oil price shocks on real exchange rate and output in four large energy-producing countries: Iran, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, and Russia. We estimate four-variable structural vector autoregressive models using standard long-run restrictions. Not surprisingly, we find that higher real oil prices are associated with higher output. However, we also find that supply shocks are by far the most important driver of real output in all four countries, possibly due to ongoing transition and catching-up. Similarly, oil shocks do not account for a large share of movements in the real exchange rate, although they are clearly more significant for Iran and Venezuela than for the other countries.
    Keywords: structural VAR model; oil price; Iran; Kazakhstan; Russia; Venezuela
    JEL: E31 E32 F31
    Date: 2009–07–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2009_006&r=cis

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