Labor Supply, Taxes, and Government Spending: A Microeconometric Analysis

The effect of government spending on labor supply behavior is critical to predicting the balanced-budget effect of income taxes and to estimating the marginal social cost of public funds. Yet, its very existence, not to mention direction and magnitude, has not been empirically investigated. This research estimates a labor supply function that incorporates income taxation and government spending using microeconomic data for men and women. The empirical results suggest that public sector spending may have a significant effect on labor supply, thereby leading to estimates of the marginal social cost of public funds that differ from those typically calculated.