Suchergebnisse

The purpose of this study is to examine the technical feasibility of micro-simulation model application for the analysis of impact of policy on social integration from the national as well as from the EU perspective. This is the first time that Malta's tax-benefit system has been analysed from the angle of the main elements of this system implying the policy rules that are underlying the entitlement criteria defining them. This was an opportunity for the main players in this field to work in synergy on this vital issue: the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity, in charge of social benefits, Ministry of Finance responsible for the fiscal policy and income tax system in particular, and the National Statistics Office tasked with income data collection based on the EU-SILC methodology. This Feasibility Study describes the situation as it was in year 2007 and the major changes that have taken place in 2008 and 2009 and 2010. Firstly, the study describes the main elements of the tax-benefit system namely: income, income tax brackets, capital resources and Social Security contributions. The second section of the study illustrates the main sources of data to be used for modelling purposes and also shows the examples of the calculation of income tax and social benefits. It has been agreed that the EU SILC 2008 data would be used, for income element since Malta has joined this system of data collection way back in 2005. The third section of the study firstly outlines the qualities and limitations of the input data set. This section also focuses on specificities of Malta's data collection and possible difficulties regarding model application. The study points at the possible combinations of sample and population databases. Also, simulation possibilities have been specified for both systems separately. Finally, the non-take up of benefit and the issue of tax and benefit fraud illustrate the situation and the possible unknown element on both sides. ; peer-reviewed

We explore the prospects for using the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) dataset as an underlying micro-database for the EU taxbenefit model, EUROMOD. This will allow expanding the policy domains currently covered in EUROMOD with dimensions like wealth taxation, incentives for wealth accumulation and asset tests determining benefit eligibility. As the HFCS only contains gross income amounts which are not suitable for distributive analysis, the purpose of this paper is to derive net incomes by simulating the gross-to-net transition with EUROMOD taking into account all important details of the social security and personal income tax system. In order to identify the issues and illustrate their importance a trial database for Belgium and Italy is constructed.

Household micro-datasets often do not contain information on gross incomes. We present an algorithm which exploits the tax- and contribution rules built into tax-benefit models to convert net income information into gross amounts. Using EUROMOD, a multi-country taxbenefit model covering all fifteen countries of the European Union, net-to-gross conversions can be performed for a large number of countries utilising existing models of relevant fiscal rules. The algorithm takes into account all relevant complexities of tax- and contribution rules and can, thus, produce much more accurate results than statistical models which estimate netto-gross ratios using only a few explanatory variables. Among the features of the algorithm is the ability to distinguish between different individuals in the same household. Even if individuals' incomes are taxed jointly, the algorithm is able to approximate separate net-togross factors for individuals in the same fiscal unit. This is possible since EUROMOD can accurately assign people to appropriate fiscal units. In addition, it is in certain cases possible to produce different net-to-gross ratios for different income components. We undertake a case study to illustrate the importance of deriving separate net-to-gross factors for different individuals within a household/fiscal unit and for different income sources of the same individual.

This paper proffers an Afromodern analysis of black liberation, embodied in the Black Lives Matter movement. In doing so, it revisits the historical concept of barbarism as a critical modality for human silencing, in order to make sense of anti-black racism in our extant social order and its re-articulation through systematic discourses of black criminality. The essay explores two dialectically opposing modernities as having differentiated effects on the construction of the human being. Euromodernity barbarizes the black subject as a carceral being, absent political speech. Afromodernity, contrastingly, fashions the black subject as a communicative being endowed with political speech and as such, black politics becomes not a relic of barbarism, but in lieu, embodies a modern re-enactment of political society. The paper concludes that Black Lives Matter functions as an Afromodern displacement of Euromodern anti-black racism by contesting American democracy as a carceral apparatus to ensure a democratic revolution.

EUROMOD is a 15-country tax-benefit microsimulation model based on national household micro-data. It is designed to estimate the revenue and distributional effects of national or EUwide changes in social and fiscal policy. In order to provide European results, and for results at the national level to be comparable, it is necessary to make adjustments to the input microdata and to adopt assumptions about the relative value of incomes across countries. This paper explores the sensitivity of model results to the choice of these adjustments and assumptions. It focuses particularly on the effects of the treatment of survey non-response and income underreporting, and on the choice of exchange rates and equivalence scales.

This paper gives an international comparison of the redistributive effect of personal income taxes in the 15 countries of the EU, using the European tax-benefit model EUROMOD. We focus on the effect of personal income taxes, social insurance contributions and other direct taxes. We present the contribution of progressivity and average tax rate to the reduction of income inequality, as well as the weight of the various types of tax concessions (i.e. exemptions, deductions, allowances and credits). There appears to be a wide variety among countries in the level of inequality reduction as well as in the instruments used to achieve this reduction. Personal income taxes are in all countries the most important source for inequality reduction, which is to a large extent, though not solely, due to the progressive rate schedule. Countries with a high degree of pre-tax inequality do not systematically redistribute more through their taxes; the results indicate rather the opposite.

Tax-benefit microsimulation models are typically used to assess the impact of policy changes on the income distribution based on micro data representative of the population. Such analysis assesses the effects of tax-benefit policies by considering their interaction effects and the population structure, which are both important elements for an overall assessment of complex realities. However, it can be helpful to abstract from this complexity and to explain the effects of tax-benefit policies using concrete examples. Using hypothetical households visualises how single policies are linked with each other while leaving the additional complexity of the population structure aside. This paper uses the Hypothetical Household Tool (HHoT) to generate hypothetical household data that can be used in EUROMOD, the tax and benefit microsimulation model of the European Union, to analyse current tax and benefit policies as well as the effects of policy changes in a comparative manner. The paper provides a brief introduction of the use of hypothetical data in general and presents concrete examples of its application. The main part proposes a set of basic indicators that can be used to learn about European tax-benefit systems in a comparative perspective.

Spain has one of the lowest expenditures on family social protection, the third highest child poverty and the second lowest fertility rate in the EU. The objective of this paper is to identify and assess tax-benefit reforms that could improve this situation. Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD, this paper compares the child-targeted policies of four EU countries to those recently reformed in Spain. It also analyses the effect that the policies of these countries would have if applied in Spain. Results show that recent reforms have increased considerably the expenditure on child-targeted policies. However, in contrast to the other analysed countries the new Spanish system mainly benefits higher income families and has a low poverty reduction effect.

In this paper we use statistical tools and graphic devices in order to give a comprehensive picture of income inequality levels in a set of 100 EU-15 regions at the end of the XX century before and after the operation of the tax-benefit. Our analysis is based on EUROMOD, the first multi-country tax-benefit model built with a common framework that includes detailed information on taxes and benefits paid and received by individuals and/or households from samples that are representative for the 15 EU countries. Our analysis focuses on intraregional inequality and it explores the relationship between regional inequality levels (both in market incomes and disposable incomes) and economic performance. Our main findings indicate that tax-benefits systems in Europe notably reduce market inequality in all EU regions and that the size of this reduction (i.e. redistributive effect) depends crucially on (i) the market inequality level of the region (positively), (ii) the relative economic performance of the region in the country (negatively) and (iii) the country to which the region belongs.

This paper analyses the first-round effects of hypothetical minimum wage increases on social outcomes in 21 EU countries with a statutory national minimum wage based on a microsimulation approach using EUROMOD. The methodological challenges related to the use of available EU household survey data are described, along with the choices made to address these challenges. The paper assesses hypothetical scenarios in which countries with a statutory national minimum wage increase their minimum wage to various reference values, set in relation to the gross national median and average wage. The model simulations suggest that minimum wage increases can significantly reduce in-work poverty, wage inequality and the gender pay gap, while generally improving the public budget balance. The implied wage increases for the beneficiaries are substantial, while the implied increases in the aggregate wage bill and, as a consequence, possible negative employment impacts, are generally modest.

Abstract
This paper analyzes the effects of hypothetical MW (HMW) increases on social and fiscal outcomes in 21 European Union (EU) countries with a statutory national MW (NMW) based on a microsimulation approach using EUROMOD. The methodological challenges related to the use of available EU household survey data are described, along with the choices made to address these challenges. The paper assesses hypothetical scenarios in which countries with a statutory NMW increase their minimum wage (MW) to various reference values, set in relation to the gross national median and average wage. The model simulations suggest that MW increases can significantly reduce in-work poverty, wage inequality, and the gender pay gap, while generally improving the public budget balance. The implied wage increases for the beneficiaries are substantial, while the implied increases in the aggregate wage bill are generally modest. Extensions explore possible effects on employment and labor supply at the intensive margin.

Tax-benefit microsimulation models are typically used to quantify the effect of specific policy changes on the income distribution based on representative microdata. Such analysis evaluates policies by considering how different tax-benefit elements interact given personal, household and labour market characteristics. Using hypothetical household data instead helps address broader questions of policy design and systemic (cross-national) differences. This article introduces the Hypothetical Household Tool (HHoT) in combination with the microsimulation model EUROMOD to analyse European tax-benefit policies from a comparative perspective. It presents a series of applications from social welfare analysis illustrating how hypothetical data can benefit comparative academic and policy research.

Flat tax schemes are popular in Eastern Europe, with an ever increasing number of countries where it is introduced, and yet many other where it is recurringly discussed. Analysing three countries, we show that the design of such schemes largely determines their impact on fiscal revenues and on the show that the design of such schemes largely determines their impact on fiscal revenues and on the redistribution of individuals' incomes. The impact, as expected, also largely depends on the characteristics of the existing income tax system. Three different flat tax systems (Estonian, already implemented; Slovenian and Hungarian, only proposals) are simulated in each of the three countries. The analysis is based on EUROMOD, the European tax-benefit microsimulation model, which now includes these countries, enabling cross-country comparisons. The results also confirm the value of EUROMOD which proves to be a valuable tool for international policy comparisons.

This paper reports an exercise to validate EUROMOD output for 2001 by comparing income statistics calculated from the baseline micro-output with comparable statistics from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). It focuses particularly on some of the income-based common "Laeken" social indicators. It also compares EUROMOD estimates of changes in these indicators between 1998 and 2001 with similar estimates based on ECHP. The values of many of the indicators – and changes to the indicators – calculated using EUROMOD are close to those shown by the ECHP. Where there are discrepancies these can usually be explained by known differences in the methods or underlying data. Users of EUROMOD should be aware of remaining unavoidable sources of non-comparability across countries, as well as the nature of the simulation process. Nevertheless they can be confident that the baseline provides a good starting point for the analysis of the effects of policy changes on indicators.

This paper reports an exercise to validate EUROMOD output for 1998 by comparing income statistics calculated from the baseline micro-output with comparable statistics from other sources, including the European Community Household Panel. The main potential reasons for discrepancies are identified. While there are some specific national issues that arise, there are two main general points to consider in interpreting EUROMOD estimates of social indicators across EU member States: (a) the method of updating microdata to 1998 and (b) the non takeup of means-tested benefits. A further conclusion is that comparisons of the type made in this paper are rarely definitive. The findings presented here should be treated as indicative of the reliability of the EUROMOD baseline as a starting point for policy simulations.