This paper has two objectives. The first is to study the revenue from the gift, inheritance, and estate taxes in Sweden during more than a century. The second is to focus on a unique episode during the second half of the 1940s when gifts and gift tax revenue exploded. This episode has never before been discussed in the research literature. It gives an extremely clear illustration of behavioral response to taxes in general, and the impact of expectations of future tax increases in particular. It is also a very interesting episode in the economic history of Sweden. I have access to aggregate tax revenue data since 1884. Moreover, I have constructed a rich micro data set of all gifts reported during the period 1942–1949 in one county. A first main result is that gift tax revenue during the 1940s started to increase long before a new estate tax and increased wealth taxation were decided and implemented. The increase even began before the legislative process started. Second, both the number and the average values of gifts increased. Promissory notes were, in value, the most common way to give. Finally, gifts, inheritances, and estates were never important sources of tax revenue. Revenue as a share of GDP reached a peak already in the 1930s. The role of these taxes has instead primarily been equity and to provide integrity for other tax bases.
This paper has two objectives. The first is to study the revenue from the gift, inheritance, and estate taxes in Sweden during more than a century. The second is to focus on a unique episode during the second half of the 1940s when gifts and gift tax revenue exploded. This episode has never before been discussed in the research literature. It gives an extremely clear illustration of behavioral response to taxes in general, and the impact of expectations of future tax increases in particular. It is also a very interesting episode in the economic history of Sweden. I have access to aggregate tax revenue data since 1884. Moreover, I have constructed a rich micro data set of all gifts reported during the period 1942–1949 in one county. A first main result is that gift tax revenue during the 1940s started to increase long before a new estate tax and increased wealth taxation were decided and implemented. The increase even began before the legislative process started. Second, both the number and the average values of gifts increased. Promissory notes were, in value, the most common way to give. Finally, gifts, inheritances, and estates were never important sources of tax revenue. Revenue as a share of GDP reached a peak already in the 1930s. The role of these taxes has instead primarily been equity and to provide integrity for other tax bases.
Der Autor analysiert empirisch, welche Regelmäßigkeiten und Trends sich bei der Bereitstellung von Mitteln für Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen in Schweden zwischen 1970 und 1989 erkennen lassen. Mittel, die während eines laufenden Haushaltsjahrs bewilligt werden, sind vor allem an aktiven arbeitsmarktpolitischen Zielsetzungen orientiert. (IAB2)
The study's objective is to evaluate the relief works and special projects that were in effect during the period 1983-1986 due to the labor force reduction of almost 2 000 persons at the LKAB Mininq Company in 1983. These reductions caused the Swedish Parliament to set up a special labor market policy organization, the Malmfältsdeleqation, which besides initiating relief works and special projects also functioned as an employment exchange, an employability assessment center, and a training organizer. The study has three main chapters. In the first of these the welfare implications of public production in a diseguilibrium model are analyzed. The background to this is that the traditional cost-benefit rules are not very well suited to this particular evaluation problem. The object of the chapter is to derive rules within the context of a model that, whilst simple, resembles in essential points the real world situation within which the Malmfältsdelegation had to work. The delegation's relief works and special projects are represented, in the model, by production in public firms. The second main chapter is a descriptive account of the Malmfälts-deleqation's relief works and special projects. The variables discussed are costs, subsidies, temporary employment, and permanent employment. In this chapter the distribution of these variables is accounted for according to type of subsidy-receiver, location of the projects, branch, and occupational groups. Furthermore, the plans are compared with the outcomes. The actual evaluation can be found in the final main chapter. By way of introduction, there is a discussion of what the labor market situât Lon in Malmfälten would have been l ike in the absence of the temporary organization. With this as a reference, the actual incomes of the former LKAB-employees are compared with the incomes they would have had in two hypothetical alternative courses of events. The first of these implies that no extra labor market policy measures had been taken and the other is based on the assumption that the former LKAB-employees had been offered labor market services to the same extent as other job-seekers in the inland area of northern Sweden. An analysis of the welfare effects of the Malmfältsdelegation's relief works and special projects completes this chapter. This analysis is based on the cost-benefit rules presented in the first, main chapter. The principle conclusions of the study are that labor market policy measures may give positive income and welfare effects in a region facing a situation similar to that faced by Malmfälten durinq the first half of the eighties. However, the Malmfaltsdelegation's measures have not been more effective than those of the reqular market labor policy organization. ; Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1988 ; digitalisering@umu
The objective of this paper is to study the long term effects of public policy measures for displaced workers. Our focus is on the individuals affected by the cutbacks at the LKAB iron ore mines in northern Sweden in 1983 and the closure of the Uddevalla Shipyard in western Sweden in 1985. These workers not only experienced job loss, but were also the target group for extraordinary labour market policies. Using register data from Statistics Sweden (labour market status, earnings, education etc.), we follow those affected until 1999. We compare this with the corresponding development of a large sample other workers who lost their jobs because of plant closures in 1987–88 but who did not receive extraordinary measures. Estimations of the net effect of the extraordinary measures find that they did have positive long-term effects for the displaced shipyard workers and miners. They have higher employment, not higher unemployment, and higher earnings than the comparison group.
To what extent do people avoid taxes on intra-family transfers (bequests and gifts), and how would integration (unification) of the different transfers taxes affect tax avoidance? These issues are important for families and their welfare, as well as for governments and their possibilities of raising revenue from transfer taxes. In this paper we study the effects of transfer taxes on altruistic parents' transfers to their children. Using a theoretical model we find that altruistic parents do not necessarily tax minimize. However, in some cases when they do, there is an infinitely large excess burden of a transfer tax. We also find that integration of transfer taxes reduces tax avoidance. All tax avoidance is eliminated with complete integration.
To what extent do people avoid taxes on intra-family transfers (be- quests and gifts), and how would integration (unification) of the dif- ferent transfers taxes affect tax avoidance? These issues are important for families and their welfare, as well as for governments and their pos- sibilities of raising revenue from transfer taxes. In this paper we study the effects of transfer taxes on altruistic parents' transfers to their chil- dren. Using a theoretical model we find that altruistic parents do not necessarily tax minimize. However, in some cases when they do, there is an infinitely large excess burden of a transfer tax. We also find that integration of transfer taxes reduces tax avoidance. All tax avoidance is eliminated with complete integration.
