Welfare analysis and redistributive policies

Abstract

Applied welfare analyses of redistributive systems nowadays benefit from powerful taxbenefit microsimulation programs combined with administrative data. Arguably, most of the distributional studies of that kind focus on social welfare defined as a functiontypically inequality or poverty indicesof household equivalized income. In parallel, economic research has made considerable progress in the measurement of welfare along several dimensions. Distinct but related branches of the literature have attempted (i) to model different behavior (in a way that matter for incidence and redistribution of taxbenefit policies), (ii) to go beyond income, (iii) to better define and estimate equivalence scales, (iv) to open the household black box and measure welfare at the individual level. I suggest a general framework to critically review these streams of literatures and to discuss whether recent advances in each of these fields have been or could be readily operationalized in welfare analyses and policy simulations.

Regional Factors Influencing Non-Take-Up for Social Support in Korea Using a Spatial Regression Model

“…In Korea, 29 linked variables are used, and most are personal income-related variables, wherein predictive models are utilized for controlling various influencing factors at the regional level. European countries, on the other hand, extract non-take-up citizens through micro-simulation and use a predictive model reflecting various personal and regional variables for the whole nation (Bargain, 2017; De Agostini et al, 2018; Gallo, 2021; Van Lancker, 2015).…”

Fiscal Redistribution and Social Welfare

“…1 Most empirical papers on fiscal redistribution abstract from the important issue of behavioral responses arising from the taxes and transfers being analyzed. However, such responses could potentially be very important in deciding on the optimal level of fiscal redistribution since they generate an efficiency-equity trade-off (Picketty and Saez, 2013;Bargain, 2017). They also mean that the level and distribution of "original" incomes (i.e., incomes prior to the imposition of taxes and transfers) may be different from the level and distribution of "market" incomes (i.e., "disposable" incomes after taxes and transfers, minus taxes and transfers), the extent of these differences depending on the elasticity of income to net transfers and how this varies across income groups.…”

Editorial

“…The Ecuadoran and Colombian versions of EUROMOD are used by Bargain, Jara and Rodriguez (Bargain, Jara, & Rodriguez, 2017) to perform a tax-bene t systems swap exercise. Finally, a paper by Olivier Bargain reviews the existing measures of well-being (Bargain, 2017).…”