Fiscal Management of Aggregate Demand: The Effectiveness of Labor Tax Credits

Axelle Ferriere and Gaston Navarro

No 19538, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We use a quantitative heterogeneous agent model with nominal rigidities and unemployment risk to analyze the effectiveness of several fiscal policies in stabilizing a demand-driven recession. The model delivers empirically realistic distributions of marginal propensities to consume (mpc) and labor participation elasticities (lpe) and matches the cross-sectional incidence of unemployment risk over the business cycle. We consider three fiscal stabilization packages: (i) a transfer to all low-income households, (ii) an increase in unemployment benefits to unemployed households, and (iii) an increase in labor tax credits to low-income working households. The labor tax credit is the most effective package to attenuate the recession, as it targets both high-mpc and high-lpe households and thus jointly stimulates labor and consumption. This result holds despite the recession resulting in higher unemployment risk.

Date: 2024-09
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