Improving poverty reduction in Europe: What works best where?

This article examines how income poverty is affected by changes to the scale of tax-benefit policies and which are the most cost-effective policies in reducing poverty or limiting its increase in seven diverse EU countries. We do that by measuring the implications of increasing/reducing the scale of each policy instrument, using microsimulation methods while holding constant the policy design and national context. We consider commonly applied policy instruments with a direct effect on household income: child benefits, social assistance, income tax lower thresholds and a benchmark case of rescaling the whole tax-benefit system. We find that the assessment of the most cost-effective instrument may depend on the measure of poverty used and the direction and scale of the change. Nevertheless, our results indicate that the options that reduce poverty most cost-effectively in most countries are increasing child benefits and social assistance, while reducing the former is a particularly poverty-increasing way of making budgetary cuts.

Download Full-text

Gridlock and inefficient policy instruments

Theoretical Economics ◽

10.3982/te3329 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 1483-1534 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David Austen-Smith ◽

Wioletta Dziuda ◽

Bård Harstad ◽

Antoine Loeper

Keyword(s):

Environmental Regulation ◽

Stochastic Game ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Veto Players ◽

Technology Standards ◽

Political Environments ◽

Legislative Veto ◽

Shed Light

Why do rational politicians choose inefficient policy instruments? Environmental regulation, for example, often takes the form of technology standards and quotas even when cost‐effective Pigou taxes are available. To shed light on this puzzle, we present a stochastic game with multiple legislative veto players and show that inefficient policy instruments are politically easier to repeal than efficient instruments. Anticipating this, heterogeneous legislators agree more readily on an inefficient policy instrument. We describe when inefficient instruments are likely to be chosen, and predict that they are used more frequently in (moderately) polarized political environments and in volatile economic environments. We show conditions under which players strictly benefit from the availability of the inefficient instrument.

Download Full-text

Gender poverty gap in Russia: absolute vs. multidimensional concepts

Woman in Russian society ◽

10.21064/winrs.2020.2.12 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 138-155

Author(s):

Irina Denisova ◽

Marina Kartseva

Keyword(s):

Social Exclusion ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Age Groups ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Multidimensional Poverty ◽

Poverty Measurement ◽

Social Program ◽

Income Poverty ◽

Absolute Poverty ◽

Absolute Income

Poverty is rather high in contemporary Russia: every eighth Russian was poor according to the official statistics in 2018. Fighting poverty is among the top strategic development goals for the period till 2024. The paper studies gender disparities in poverty among Russian adults. Better understanding of gender structure of poverty in Russia would facilitate poverty reduction via better targeting and better tailoring of policy instruments. We utilize micro data of the Survey of income and social program participation by Rosstat as of 2017 for our statistical analysis. Two alternative poverty concepts are used: absolute income poverty (the official methodology of poverty measurement in Russia) and poverty risk and social exclusion index (the key component of poverty monitoring indicator in the EU). The latter index is a composition of relative poverty and deprivation poverty measures. Our results indicate that, on average, there is no gender poverty gap in Russia when absolute poverty concept is used: poverty rates among males and females are the same on average. Hence, we find no statistical support to the widely used by the media thesis of poverty feminization in Russia. Absolute poverty rate, however, is found to vary significantly across different gender-age groups: absolute income poverty among females is higher than among males in young and senior ages, while males are poorer in mid-age groups. When multiple criteria definition of poverty and social exclusion (AROPE) is applied, we find clear signs of feminization of poverty in Russia. Multidimensional poverty is much higher among females, and this is observed in all age groups. The highest gender poverty gap is observed in senior ages. The age-gender poverty structure changes dramatically when we move from absolute poverty concept to the multidimensional one: we observe higher share of females in poverty, and higher share of senior people in poverty. The key determinants of higher multidimensional poverty of females is their relatively (to males) lower wages, and relatively lower pensions.

Download Full-text

Ecolabeling as a Policy Instrument for More Sustainable Development: The Evidence of Supply and Demand Interactions from Russia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13179581 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (17) ◽

pp. 9581

Author(s):

Svetlana Ratner ◽

Konstantin Gomonov ◽

Svetlana Revinova ◽

Inna Lazanyuk

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

International Standards ◽

Consumer Awareness ◽

Inaccurate Information ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Environmental Labels

Ecolabeling can complement more conventional policy instruments such as taxes and subsidies to stimulate more sustainable development of the economy. However, in practice, ecolabels may not always comply with legal requirements in terms of reliability, accuracy and clarity, and sometimes deliberately mislead the consumer. In Russia and many other developing countries, the problem of inaccurate information on the environmental properties of goods and services is still not recognized. The only regulatory document that currently defines the basic principles for developing and using environmental labels and declarations is the national versions of international standards ISO 14020/14021/14024/14025-Environmental Labels Package. This paper contributes to the literature in two main dimensions. It assesses the degree of prevalence of ecolabeling in the Russian market of everyday goods and the reliability and informational content of frequently used labels (supply-side research). Second, it estimates the consumers’ awareness and reaction to ecolabeled products (demand-side research). The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is that low consumer awareness keeps the level of greenwashing low, but at the same time does not stimulate eco-innovations. We suggest developing smartphone applications that allow buyers to check the compliance of ecolabels on a product with ISO standards directly during the shopping process. We propose to use this approach as a cost-effective and straightforward way to simultaneously raise consumer awareness of ecolabeling and reduce the likelihood of greenwashing.

Download Full-text

The Knowns and Unknowns of Policy Instrument Analysis: Policy Tools and the Current Research Agenda on Policy Mixes

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244019900568 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 215824401990056 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Giliberto Capano ◽

Michael Howlett

Keyword(s):

Policy Design ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Policy Tools ◽

Important Work ◽

Instrument Analysis ◽

Relevant Topic ◽

Current Article ◽

Policy Mixes ◽

Policy Fields

Policies are made and pursue their goals through policy instruments. Furthermore, policy instruments have become a relevant topic in many policy fields due to their theoretical and empirical relevance. The study of this field dates back to Lowi and others who developed many typologies and theories in classic works by authors such as Hood, Salamon, Linder and Peters, Peters and van Nispen, Schneider and Ingram, Lascomes and Le Galès, among others. This is important work that is linked closely to current research on policy design but, despite much effort, many fundamental issues remain unknown or understudied with respect to the topic. It is time to take inventory of the knowns and unknowns about policy tools. The current article examines four clusters of basic issues in the field which require further research.

Download Full-text

Poverty-Reducing Growth Strategy in Poor Countries

Revista Latinoamericana de Desarrollo Económico ◽

10.35319/lajed.20050263 ◽

2005 ◽

pp. 103-134

Author(s):

Rodney Schmidt

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Growth Strategy ◽

Poverty Traps ◽

Income Poverty ◽

Poor Countries ◽

Land Redistribution ◽

Policy Choices ◽

The North ◽

Urban Rural

This paper synthesizes and develops research undertaken by participants in The North-South Institute project, "Macroeconomic policy choices for growth and poverty reduction" in low- income developing countries.1 The project analysed the features of poverty and growth in seven poor countries of varying circumstances and proposed macroeconomic and growth policies for poverty reduction for them. The research was guided by the question: "How does poverty inform growth strategy?" Our research provides evidence of the channels through which growth and distribution or poverty processes depend on each other and respond to policy together. We encapsulate the messages of these case studies in the following six propositions, discussed at length in the paper: i) macroeconomic stability reduces poverty; ii) land redistribution enhances growth; iii) income poverty traps constrain growth; iv) urban-rural growth disparities drive income inequality; v) regional poverty traps resist growth, and vi) ley growth policies can aggravate poverty gaps. The propositions suggest growth policies that may be either of two types in terms of impact on growth and distribution. They have the potential to enhance both growth and distribution (win-win) or to enhance growth while aggravating income gaps or vice versa (win-lose).

Download Full-text

A RECONSIDERATION OF THE DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS OF MONETARY POLICY RULES: FISHER VERSUS CHICAGO

Journal of the History of Economic Thought ◽

10.1017/s1053837219000622 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 55-82

Author(s):

George S. Tavlas

Keyword(s):

Monetary Policy ◽

Price Level ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Superior Performance ◽

Policy Uncertainty ◽

Direct Link ◽

Policy Rule ◽

Policy Rules ◽

Monetary Policy Rules

There has long been a presumption that the price-level stabilization frameworks of Irving Fisher and Chicagoans Henry Simons and Lloyd Mints were essentially equivalent. I show that there were subtle, but important, differences in the rationales underlying the policies of Fisher and the Chicagoans. Fisher’s framework involved substantial discretion in the setting of the policy instruments; for the Chicagoans the objective of a policy rule was to tie the hands of the authorities in order to reduce discretion and, thus, monetary policy uncertainty. In contrast to Fisher, the Chicagoans provided assessments of the workings of alternative rules, assessed various criteria—including simplicity and reduction of political pressures—in the specification of rules, and concluded that rules would provide superior performance compared with discretion. Each of these characteristics provided a direct link to the rules-based framework of Milton Friedman. Like Friedman’s framework, Simons’s preferred rule targeted a policy instrument.

Download Full-text

Transformation of Sociocultural Integration Policy and Inherent Political Theories in the United Kingdom: A Way Forward

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/21582440211007461 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 215824402110074

Author(s):

Samiul Parvez Ahmed ◽

Sarwar Uddin Ahmed ◽

Ikramul Hasan

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Empirical Data ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Diversity Management ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Management Policy ◽

Policy Framework ◽

Theoretical Argument ◽

Integration Policy ◽

The United Kingdom

The contemporary integration policies (Community Cohesion Agenda [CCA]) of the United Kingdom have been criticized for their foundational weaknesses, conceptual inadequacies, myopic views with regard to the complexity of the issue, lack of evidence, and so on. Vast majority of the studies conducted to verify this discourse have been done in the line of theoretical arguments of diversity management rather than exploring their connections to a target community in reality. This study aims at establishing a linkage between the growing theoretical arguments of the integration discourse with empirical data in light of the policy framework of the CCA. We have selected the fastest growing Bangladeshi community of the CCA-adapted Aston City of Birmingham as the representative group of the ethnic minority communities of the United Kingdom. Qualitative data collection approach has been followed, where primary in-depth interviews were conducted on various policy actors, social workers, faith leaders, and Bangladeshi residents of Aston. The entire policy instrument, starting from its broad purposes to operational strategies, has been severely challenged by both residents of the community and relevant policy-implementing bodies in Aston. CCA policies appear to be largely inclined toward the interculturalism/communitarianism ideology rather than to multiculturalism. However, the empirical evidence shows that the need for multiculturalism, to be more specific—Bristol School of Multiculturalism, as a political theory remains in the integration discourse in the context of the United Kingdom. Findings are expected to have implications on practitioners and policy makers in designing diversity management policy instruments by having a wider synthesized view on both theoretical argument and empirical data.

Download Full-text

Towards a Circular Economy Taxation Framework: Expectations and Challenges of Implementation

Circular Economy and Sustainability ◽

10.1007/s43615-020-00002-z ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Leonidas Milios

Keyword(s):

Circular Economy ◽

Action Plan ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Detailed Examination ◽

Raw Material ◽

The European Union ◽

Material Resource ◽

Waste Hierarchy ◽

Tax Relief

AbstractThe transition to a circular economy is a complex process requiring wide multi-level and multi-stakeholder engagement and can be facilitated by appropriate policy interventions. Taking stock of the importance of a well-balanced policy mix that includes a variety of complementing policy instruments, the circular economy action plan of the European Union (COM(2020) 98 final) includes a section about “getting the economics right” in which it encourages the application of economic instruments. This contribution presents a comprehensive taxation framework, applied across the life cycle of products. The framework includes (1) a raw material resource tax, (2) reuse/repair tax relief, and (3) a waste hierarchy tax at the end of life of products. The research is based on a mixed method approach, using different sources to analyse the different measures in the framework. More mature concepts, such as material resource taxes, are analysed by reviewing the existing literature. The analysis of tax relief on repairs is based on interviews with stakeholders in Sweden, where this economic policy instrument has been implemented since 2017. Finally, for the waste hierarchy tax, which is a novel proposition in this contribution, macroeconomic modelling is used to analyse potential impacts of future implementation. In all cases, several implementation challenges are identified, and potential solutions are discussed according to literature and empirical sources. Further research is required both at the individual instrument and at the framework level. Each of the tax proposals needs a more detailed examination for its specificities of implementation, following the results of this study.

Download Full-text

Remote Sensing for Land Administration

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12152497 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 2497

Author(s):

Rohan Bennett ◽

Peter van Oosterom ◽

Christiaan Lemmen ◽

Mila Koeva

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Land Tenure ◽

Laser Scanning ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Terrestrial Lidar ◽

Land Administration ◽

Tools And Techniques ◽

Vertical Development

Land administration constitutes the socio-technical systems that govern land tenure, use, value and development within a jurisdiction. The land parcel is the fundamental unit of analysis. Each parcel has identifiable boundaries, associated rights, and linked parties. Spatial information is fundamental. It represents the boundaries between land parcels and is embedded in cadastral sketches, plans, maps and databases. The boundaries are expressed in these records using mathematical or graphical descriptions. They are also expressed physically with monuments or natural features. Ideally, the recorded and physical expressions should align, however, in practice, this may not occur. This means some boundaries may be physically invisible, lacking accurate documentation, or potentially both. Emerging remote sensing tools and techniques offers great potential. Historically, the measurements used to produce recorded boundary representations were generated from ground-based surveying techniques. The approach was, and remains, entirely appropriate in many circumstances, although it can be timely, costly, and may only capture very limited contextual boundary information. Meanwhile, advances in remote sensing and photogrammetry offer improved measurement speeds, reduced costs, higher image resolutions, and enhanced sampling granularity. Applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), laser scanning, both airborne and terrestrial (LiDAR), radar interferometry, machine learning, and artificial intelligence techniques, all provide examples. Coupled with emergent societal challenges relating to poverty reduction, rapid urbanisation, vertical development, and complex infrastructure management, the contemporary motivation to use these new techniques is high. Fundamentally, they enable more rapid, cost-effective, and tailored approaches to 2D and 3D land data creation, analysis, and maintenance. This Special Issue hosts papers focusing on this intersection of emergent remote sensing tools and techniques, applied to domain of land administration.

Download Full-text