The Canadian federal tax reform of 1988 replaced a spousal tax exemption with a non-refundable tax credit. This reduced the "jointness" of the tax system: after the reform, secondary earners' effective "first dollar" marginal tax rates no longer depended on the marginal tax rates of their...

The Canadian federal tax reform of 1988 replaced a spousal tax exemption with a non-refundable tax credit. This reduced the "jointness" of the tax system: after the reform, secondary earners' effective "first dollar" marginal tax rates no longer depended on the marginal tax rates of their...

I investigate the impact of the Canadian Federal tax reform of 1988 on the labour supply of lower income married women. The Canadian federal tax reform of 1988 replaced the spousal exemption with a nonrefundable tax credit. This reduced the dependence of a low income married woman’s effective...

In 1988, marginal personal income tax rates changed in Canada, for some individuals by reasonably substantial amounts. This note examines a large sample of tax-filer data and finds little convincing evidence of any effect on contributions to Registered Retirement Saving Plans (RRSPs).

In 1988, marginal personal income tax rates changed in Canada, for some individuals by reasonably substantial amounts. This note examines a large sample of tax-filer data and finds little convincing evidence of any effect on contributions to Registered Retirement Saving Plans (RRSPs).

Contributions to tax-preferred savings accounts are typically constrained by a contribution limit. These limits influence contributions not just in periods in which they bind, but in other periods as well. I develop a simple life-cycle model in which consumers exhibit "use-it-or-lose-it"...

The goal of the paper is two-folds. First, I construct and estimate a dynamic structural occupational choice model at the three-digit classification level, in which different occupations involve different mix of tasks. Second, I conduct a counterfactual simulation using the estimated model, to...

Federal tax reform in 1988 flattened the Canadian personal income tax schedule, changing the marginal tax rates for many individuals. Using methods similar to those applied by Auten and Carroll (1999) in the study of the effects of the 1986 U.S. Tax Reform Act, we estimate the responsiveness of...

Within the 65+ age group, the percentage of labour market income received by the top 1% of earners has increased from about 30% in 1982 to more than 60% in 2002. The trend is smooth, is roughly uniform across provinces and does not appear to have been accelerated by top marginal tax rate...

Do Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) increase savings? It is unclear whether they are largely "savings-creating" (i.e. generate new savings) or are largely "savings-diverting" (i.e. the repository for shifted existing assets or for savings that would have been made without the plans)....