Family bargaining and taxes: A prolegomenon to the analysis of joint taxation

Does joint taxation disadvantage women? To answer that question, this article begins by reviewing bargaining models of intrafamily allocation and discussing the determinants of 'bargaining power'. It argues that wage rates rather than earnings are determinants of bargaining power, and that productivity in household production is also a determinant of bargaining power. In the absence of human capital effects, joint taxation does not appear to disadvantage women in bargaining. Hence, the claim that joint taxation disadvantages women, if correct, depends on effects that operate through incentives to accumulate human capital. But a satisfactory analysis of the effects of taxation on human capital awaits the further development of dynamic models of family bargaining.