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This paper calculates the change in optimal labor supply and total family welfare resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). We estimate labor supply elasticities for married families in the Current Population Survey from 2015 to 2017, using a joint family utility model. These elasticities are then used to simulate changes in optimal labor supply and resulting change in welfare among families with different characteristics under the new TCJA tax code. We find that optimal hours are lower post-TCJA, relative to before. However, there are differences across family members and family types. Both men's and women's optimal hours decline with income starting in the second quintile, but the decline is more dramatic for men. Overall, all families' welfare increased post-TCJA, with the gains in welfare disproportionately benefiting the wealthy; families with any self-employment income; families with children; and families renting, versus owning, their home. JEL classification: I30, J22, D19 Key words: family welfare, joint labor supply, microsimulation, TCJA https://doi.org/10.29338/wp2021-18, 1 Introduction and Backgrounds On December 31, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) became the most sweeping reform of the U.S. tax code since the Economic Growth and [...]

This paper calculates the welfare cost to families of an unemployment shock. Using U.S. data, we find that, overall, an average annualized expected dollar equivalent welfare loss of $1,156 when the unemployment rate rises by one percentage point. The welfare loss is greater for married families than for single families and increases with education. We then estimate that a loss in purchasing power of 1.8 percent generates the same amount of welfare loss as a one-percentage-point rise in the unemployment rate. Additionally, the shock to purchasing power that a family is willing to endure to avoid a one percentage point increase in the aggregate unemployment rate rises with income. The results in this paper inform policymakers about the distributional implications of decisions likely to affect labor markets. JEL classification: I30, E52, J22, D19 Key words: family welfare, joint labor supply, microsimulation dual mandate, monetary policy, Family Welfare and the Cost of Unemployment 1. Introduction and Background The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the welfare cost of a shock to unemployment for families with [...]

Using a standard differences-in-differences (DD) technique and a modified DD technique in the slopes, this paper determines that hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games boosted employment by 17% in the counties of Georgia affiliated with and close to Olympic activity, relative to employment increases in other counties in Georgia (the rate of growth increased 0.002 percentage points per quarter). Estimation of a random-growth model confirms a positive impact of the Olympics on employment. In addition, the employment impact is shown not to be merely a 'metropolitan statistical area (MSA) effect'; employment in the northern Olympic venue areas was found to increase 11% more post- versus pre-Olympics than it did in other, similar southern MSAs. The evidence of an Olympic impact on wages is weak., 1. Introduction In September 1990, Atlanta won the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. In spite of the approximately $2.5 billion price tag, the benefits derived from hosting [...]

An analysis of commercial policy development in emerging countries reveals that success has been related, in some way or another, to market openness and export success. There is however, difficulty in investigating this phenomenon as direct data is unobtainable. There is evidence that advanced social welfare systems do play a role in commercial policy success as this increases the competitiveness of industries by maintaining wage levels.

I. Introduction The recent application of stochastic dominance ranking rules to the evaluation of income distributions has stimulated new interest in welfare orderings. While the power of stochastic dominance rules [...]

Gender-based wage differentials in Jamaica are attributed to the differences in the value given to personal and employment characteristics. Women employed in formal-sector jobs, or jobs with higher salary and better working conditions, are paid wages constituting 80% of the men's average pay. However, lesser wage differentials are found in occupations where there are many women employees. This implies that the greater the number of women in the workplace, the less likely they are discriminated in terms of pay.

The share of married families in which the wife earns more than her husband has grown significantly during the past few decades. In spite of the higher total earnings these types of families typically experience, the inversion of traditional earnings superiority apparently produces considerable angst for the families. This paper examines how the total welfare of families of different relative earnings structures has fared during two very different decades and finds that families in which the wife is the higher wage earner experienced at least as much welfare gain as families with a different relative earnings structure. The implication is that even if total welfare isn't as high in families with higher earning wives, as recent literature suggests, the welfare of those families is closing in on families of different earnings structures, as their gains in welfare have either surpassed or kept up with welfare gains of other family types during the past three decades. JEL classification: I30, J22, D19 Key words: joint labor supply, family utility, micro-simulation, A TALE OF TWO DECADES: RELATIVE INTRA-FAMILY EARNING CAPACITY AND CHANGES IN FAMILY WELFARE OVER TIME I. Introduction and Background Various sources have documented the fairly dramatic rise in the [...]

The analysis in this paper provides estimates of family welfare losses generated by wage and nonlabor income declines experienced across the Great Recession and by labor market constraints existing postrecession. Welfare losses are greater as families (both married and single) move up the income distribution. Total static welfare losses are estimated to amount to roughly $190 billion, comparing family welfare between 2007 and 2011. JEL classification: I30, J22, D19, E32 Key words: family welfare, joint labor supply, microsimulation, constrained hours, Family Welfare and the Great Recession I. Introduction and Background Analyses of the impact of the Great Recession on families have taken many forms. Morgan et al. (2012) find little [...]

Working Paper 2005-22 September 2005 Abstract: This paper applies a standard treatment effects model to determine that participation in Freshman Learning Communities (FLCs) improves academic performance and retention. Not controlling [...]