Research project Reducing poverty and increasing employment through the tax system
A comparative perspective on earned income tax credits. The purpose of this project is to analyze if earned income tax credits (EITCs) are able to reduce poverty and increase employment, and particularly under which conditions these two aims can be pursued simultaneously.
EITCs are tax instruments that promote income from work over income from the welfare state and their use have increased in many countries over the last two decades. Sweden, for example, introduced an EITC in 2007 (Jobbskatteavdrag), with the explicit aim to increase work-incentives. However, despite an increase in employment in many Western countries, poverty has increased or at best remained stable. Does this mean that EITCs involve a trade-off between employment and poverty alleviation? To what extent are the two odaniel bjectives of EITCs complementary? How should EITCs be organized to simultaneously boost employment and reduce poverty
Project members
Project managers
Daniel Fredriksson
Researcher
Members
Kenneth Tommy Nelson
Professor