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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2022‒10‒10
three papers chosen by |
| By: | Nora Lustig (Tulane University); Valentina Martinez Pabon (Yale University); Federico Sanz (Equity Institute and the World Bank); Stephen Younger (Equity Institute) |
| Abstract: | We present a methodological approach with relatively low information requirements to quantify the impact of large, unprecedented macroeconomic shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic on living standards across the income distribution. The approach can be produced quickly and, contrary to other "fast-delivery" exercises, does not assume that income losses are proportional across the income distribution, a feature that is critical to understanding the impact on poverty and inequality. Our method is sufficiently flexible to refine the projected effects of the shock as more information becomes available. We illustrate with data from the four largest countries in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, and discuss the estimated effect of COVID-19 on inequality and poverty. We also present the guidelines for adapting our framework to different countries and economic shocks. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, inequality, poverty, mobility, microsimulations, Latin America |
| JEL: | C63 D31 E27 I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tul:wpaper:2206&r= |
| By: | Nora Lustig (Tulane University); Valentina Martinez Pabon (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is often seen as an attractive policy option to replace existing targeted transfer and subsidy programs. However, in a budget-neutral switch to a UBI there is a trade-off between the generosity of the universal transfer, and hence its poverty impact, and the implied increase in tax burden. We summarize our results for fourteen low- and middle-income countries. We find that, with the exception of Russia, a poverty reducing, budget-neutral UBI would entail a significant increase in the net tax burden of top deciles. The efficiency cost and political resistance for such a policy would likely be too high. |
| Keywords: | universal basic income, microsimulation, inequality, poverty, tax incidence |
| JEL: | D31 D63 H22 I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tul:wpaper:2205&r= |
| By: | David Castells-Quintana; Carlos Gradín; Vicente Royuela |
| Abstract: | In this paper we reassess the relationship between inequality and human development, focusing on the differential effect associated with the concentration of national income at different parts of the income distribution. To do so, we rely on a large global panel of countries over the last decades which includes information on economic and human development as well as detailed information on the distribution of income within countries. We take advantage of detailed distributive data consistent across countries and over time (World Income Inequality Database companion datasets). |
| Keywords: | Human development, Inequality, Institutions, Income distribution |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2022-96&r= |