Figure A
Productivity and hourly pay grew faster when corporate tax rates were higher: Statutory corporate tax rate and 5-year average of productivity and real hourly pay growth, 1953–2016
| Year | Statutory corporate income tax rate | Real average hourly compensation growth (2016 dollars) | Net productivity growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 52.00% | 4.17% | 3.91% |
| 1954 | 52.00% | 3.25% | 3.94% |
| 1955 | 52.00% | 3.31% | 3.13% |
| 1956 | 52.00% | 3.97% | 2.55% |
| 1957 | 52.00% | 3.84% | 2.50% |
| 1958 | 52.00% | 2.87% | 2.21% |
| 1959 | 52.00% | 3.08% | 2.65% |
| 1960 | 52.00% | 2.60% | 2.15% |
| 1961 | 52.00% | 2.10% | 2.79% |
| 1962 | 52.00% | 2.24% | 3.03% |
| 1963 | 52.00% | 2.44% | 3.35% |
| 1964 | 50.00% | 2.24% | 3.25% |
| 1965 | 48.00% | 2.33% | 3.55% |
| 1966 | 52.80% | 2.29% | 3.55% |
| 1967 | 52.80% | 1.89% | 2.97% |
| 1968 | 52.80% | 2.03% | 2.86% |
| 1969 | 52.80% | 2.04% | 2.24% |
| 1970 | 49.20% | 1.74% | 1.87% |
| 1971 | 48.00% | 2.08% | 2.01% |
| 1972 | 48.00% | 2.92% | 2.32% |
| 1973 | 48.00% | 2.41% | 2.21% |
| 1974 | 48.00% | 1.41% | 1.77% |
| 1975 | 48.00% | 1.16% | 1.95% |
| 1976 | 48.00% | 0.84% | 1.75% |
| 1977 | 48.00% | 0.20% | 1.43% |
| 1978 | 48.00% | 0.49% | 1.12% |
| 1979 | 46.00% | 0.69% | 1.50% |
| 1980 | 46.00% | 0.19% | 0.87% |
| 1981 | 46.00% | -0.22% | 0.75% |
| 1982 | 46.00% | -0.56% | 0.20% |
| 1983 | 46.00% | -0.78% | 0.61% |
| 1984 | 46.00% | -0.67% | 1.11% |
| 1985 | 46.00% | -0.24% | 1.63% |
| 1986 | 46.00% | -0.03% | 1.61% |
| 1987 | 40.00% | -0.34% | 2.04% |
| 1988 | 34.00% | -0.48% | 1.65% |
| 1989 | 34.00% | -0.35% | 1.27% |
| 1990 | 34.00% | -0.44% | 1.21% |
| 1991 | 34.00% | -0.58% | 0.96% |
| 1992 | 34.00% | -0.17% | 1.61% |
| 1993 | 35.00% | -0.05% | 1.43% |
| 1994 | 35.00% | 0.01% | 1.46% |
| 1995 | 35.00% | 0.05% | 1.17% |
| 1996 | 35.00% | 0.10% | 1.51% |
| 1997 | 35.00% | 0.19% | 1.05% |
| 1998 | 35.00% | 0.63% | 1.40% |
| 1999 | 35.00% | 0.88% | 1.70% |
| 2000 | 35.00% | 1.12% | 2.20% |
| 2001 | 35.00% | 1.40% | 2.02% |
| 2002 | 35.00% | 1.58% | 2.32% |
| 2003 | 35.00% | 1.32% | 2.59% |
| 2004 | 35.00% | 0.93% | 2.66% |
| 2005 | 35.00% | 0.74% | 2.52% |
| 2006 | 35.00% | 0.48% | 2.31% |
| 2007 | 35.00% | 0.23% | 1.86% |
| 2008 | 35.00% | 0.01% | 1.20% |
| 2009 | 35.00% | 0.88% | 1.07% |
| 2010 | 35.00% | 1.15% | 1.32% |
| 2011 | 35.00% | 0.88% | 1.22% |
| 2012 | 35.00% | 0.55% | 1.18% |
| 2013 | 35.00% | 0.65% | 1.21% |
| 2014 | 35.00% | -0.05% | 0.90% |
| 2015 | 35.00% | 0.12% | 0.41% |
| 2016 | 35.00% | 0.58% | 0.42% |
Source: Productivity is the 5-year average annual change in total economy productivity (TEP) measure using unpublished data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Pay growth measures real compensation of production and nonsupervisory workers, using data from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program of the BLS and Table 7.8 from the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), as described in Bivens and Mishel (2015).
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