Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Cathal O'Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Environmental Models ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Static Models ◽  
Spatial Microsimulation ◽  
Microsimulation Models

This chapter serves as an introduction to the book Practical Microsimulation Modelling. It provides as context a description of microsimulation modelling, a simulation-based tool with a micro-unit of analysis that can be used for ex-ante analysis. The methodology is motivated as a mechanism of abstracting from reality to help us understand complexity better. It describes the main analytical objectives of users of microsimulation models in the field of income distribution analysis. The chapter then describes in turn the main methods of microsimulation considered in the book: hypothetical models, static models, behavioural models (labour supply and consumption), environmental models, decomposing inequality, dynamic microsimulation models, and spatial microsimulation models. The chapter concludes by providing an outline of the book.

scholarly journals Measurement of inequality of opportunity: A normative approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristof Bosmans ◽  
Z. Emel Öztürk
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Inequality Of Opportunity ◽  
Welfare Gain ◽  
Allocation Rules ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Measurement Of Inequality

AbstractWe develop a normative approach to the measurement of inequality of opportunity. That is, we measure inequality of opportunity by the welfare gain obtained in moving from the actual income distribution to the optimal income distribution of the total available income. Our study brings together the main approaches in the literature: we axiomatically characterize social welfare functions, we obtain prominent allocation rules as their optima, and we derive familiar classes of inequality of opportunity measures. Our analysis captures moreover the key philosophical distinctions in the literature: ex post versus ex ante compensation, and liberal versus utilitarian reward.

Jan Tinbergen's Income distribution: Analysis and policies

De Economist ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Haveman
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Distribution Analysis

scholarly journals Inequality over the business cycle: the role of distributive shocks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Marius Clemens ◽  
Ulrich Eydam ◽  
Maik Heinemann
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Panel Estimation ◽  
Bayesian Techniques ◽  
Elasticity Of Intertemporal Substitution ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
The Business Cycle

Abstract This paper examines how wealth and income inequality dynamics are related to fluctuations in the functional income distribution over the business cycle. In a panel estimation for OECD countries between 1970 and 2016, although inequality is, on average countercyclical and significantly associated with the capital share, one-third of the countries display a pro- or noncyclical relationship. To analyze the observed pattern, we incorporate distributive shocks into an RBC model, where agents are ex ante heterogeneous with respect to wealth and ability. We find that whether wealth and income inequality behave countercyclically or not depends on the elasticity of intertemporal substitution and the persistence of shocks. We match the model to quarterly US data using Bayesian techniques. The parameter estimates point toward a non-monotonic relationship between productivity and inequality fluctuations. On impact, inequality increases in response to TFP shocks but subsequently declines. Furthermore, TFP shocks explain 17% of inequality fluctuations.

scholarly journals Impact of Income Distribution on Social and Economic Well-Being of the State

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuriy Bilan ◽  
Halyna Mishchuk ◽  
Natalia Samoliuk ◽  
Halyna Yurchyk
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Property Rights Protection ◽  
Structural Indicators ◽  
Economic Well Being

Income distribution can cause large-scale transformations in human resources structure, essential changes of economic outputs via its impact on life satisfaction and motivation of work. Thus, the overall objective of this research is to improve methodological tools of income distribution analysis based on identifying the links between different structural indicators of income inequality and the most essential features of social and economic well-being. We conducted comparative analysis of EU Member States and Ukraine. We used structural analysis based on two forms of income distribution—functional (share of “labour” in Gross domestic product - GDP) and household one (ratio of incomes measured by special decile coefficients) to identify income inequality and inconsistencies in distributive strategies. By grouping European countries according to economic well-being (described as GDP per capita) and inequality in income distribution (based on Gini coefficient), we determined apparent tendencies in distributive policies and revealed links between income distribution and connected social-economic features of well-being. We conclude that countries with the most stable and clear patterns in income distribution have distinct connections between the share of labour costs in GDP and successes in social and economic spheres, including human development level, property rights protection, GDP growth, possibilities for taxation and budgeting of social programmes.

Labour-Supply Behaviour

2021 ◽  
pp. 115-149
Author(s):  
Cathal O'Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Revealed Preference ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Measurement Issues ◽  
Labour Participation ◽  
Microsimulation Models

In the preceding chapters, the focus was on simulating policies that aim to reduce poverty, generate revenue, or redistribute resources. However, many public policies also try to incentivize behaviour, such as those to improve labour participation or supply, or to change behaviours in relation to savings or pollution. Social- and fiscal-policy instruments face a fundamental trade-off. An instrument that performs well from an income-maintenance perspective may have unintended behavioural consequences. This chapter considers the structure of instruments that have an explicit goal to improve behavioural response, particularly focusing on in-work benefits. The chapter also describes how to use a microsimulation mode to simulate the inputs required for the estimation of a behavioural-econometric model, and then estimates a revealed-preference-choice model. The chapter then describes a method often used in microsimulation models to calibrate choice models for simulation purposes. In terms of measurement issues related to the behavioural analysis, we describe the design and use of replacement rates. The chapter concludes by undertaking a simulation of the introduction of a change in in-work benefits.

scholarly journals Assessing Minimum Wage Policy Implications upon Income Inequalities. The Case of Romania

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2542
Author(s):  
Eva Militaru ◽  
Madalina Ecaterina Popescu ◽  
Amalia Cristescu ◽  
Maria Denisa Vasilescu
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Wage Policy ◽  
Income Inequalities ◽  
Wage Earners ◽  
The Impact

Starting from the consideration that excessive income inequalities could hamper sustainable growth, our paper aims to evaluate the impact of the minimum wage policy upon wage and income distributions. Using the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) database with national representative sample of households, an income distribution analysis was conducted for the case of Romania based on two microsimulation approaches. The first one assumed building a counterfactual income distribution under the hypothesis of no change in minimum wage, while the second one implied a decomposition of the Gini coefficient of income inequalities based on main income determinants, including the minimum wage level and the share of minimum wage earners in the total number of employees. Both approaches pointed to similar findings, indicating a positive effect of the minimum wage on wage inequalities reduction for both genders, although higher for women, as they are more present among lower paid employees. The minimum wage policy can reshape the wage distribution, by enlarging the share of minimum income earners and narrowing the middle. Moreover, the household disposable income becomes less unequal when minimum wage increases, meaning that the income gain spreads over the entire household as most minimum wage earners come from poor households with numerous children.

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