In the economic policy debate, income tax progressivity is mostly seen as a means of redistribution. The more progressive the tax, the more redistribution from the rich to the poor. However, high tax progressivity also means high marginal tax rates for those with a high income, which leads to...

Changing the income tax progressivity in labour markets with collective wage bargaining generates a trade-off. On the one hand, higher progressivity distorts individual labour supply decisions at the hours-of-work margin, on the other hand, it reduces unemployment by exerting downward pressure...

We estimate the effects of hiring subsidies for older workers on transitions from unemployment to employment in Germany. Using a natural experiment, our first set of estimates is based on a legal change extending the group of eligible unemployed persons. A subsequent legal change in the opposite...