New Economics Papers
on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty
Issue of 2009‒07‒28
four papers chosen by



  1. Computing poverty measures with survey data By Philippe Van Kerm
  2. Household income, poverty and wealth By Richard Hauser
  3. Intergenerational Social Mobility in European OECD Countries By Orsetta Causa; Sophie Dantan; Åsa Johansson
  4. Economic Growth and the Role of Taxation – Theory By Gareth D. Myles

  1. By: Philippe Van Kerm (CEPS/INSTEAD, Luxembourg)
    Abstract: I discuss estimation of poverty measures from household survey data in Stata and show how to derive analytic standard errors that take into account survey design features. Where needed, standard errors are adjusted for the estimation of the poverty line as a fraction of the mean or median income. The linearization approach based on influence functions is generally applicable to many estimators.
    Date: 2009–07–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:dsug09:03&r=ltv
  2. By: Richard Hauser
    Abstract: This paper concentrates on official statistics on household income, poverty, and wealth. It characterizes the main research questions in this field, and it presents an overview of the available statistics and Scientific Use Files produced by the four Research Data Centers (RDC) in Germany. (RDC of the Federal Statistical Office; RDC of the Statistical Offices of the German states; RDC of the German Labor Office; RCD of the German Pension Insurance). We support the recommendations of a peer review group for the Federal Statistical Office based on the European Statistics Code of Practice, and suggest peer reviews for all data producing bodies including ministries. We repeat a recommendation of a former Commission to find ways of distributing Scientific Use Files to reliable foreign research institutes. Special recommendations refer to the improvement of survey methods and extended questionnaires of the Income and Consumption Survey (EVS) and the German contribution to the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC). We also recommend a harmonization of the administrative statistics on the various minimum benefit programs, and the development of a single Scientific Use Files for all minimum benefit recipients.
    Keywords: relevant terms to support the research via the Internet Research Data Center, Scientific Use Files, household income, wealth, minimum benefits, EVS, EU SILC.
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsw:rswwps:rswwps21&r=ltv
  3. By: Orsetta Causa; Sophie Dantan; Åsa Johansson
    Abstract: This paper breaks new ground by providing comparable estimates of intergenerational wage and education persistence across 14 European OECD countries based on a new micro data from Eurostat. A further novelty is that it examines the potential role of public policies and labour and product market institutions in explaining observed differences in intergenerational wage mobility across countries. The empirical estimates show that intergenerational wage persistence is relatively high in southern European countries, as well as in the United Kingdom. Likewise, intergenerational persistence in education is relatively high both in southern European countries and in Luxembourg and Ireland. By contrast, both persistence in wages and education tends to be lower in Nordic countries. In addition, empirical results show that education is one important driver of intergenerational wage persistence across European countries. There is a positive crosscountry correlation between intergenerational wage mobility and redistributive policies, as well as a positive correlation between wage-setting institutions that compress the wage distribution and mobility.<P>Mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle dans les pays européens de l'OCDE<BR>Cet article comble une faille dans la littérature en présentant de nouvelles mesures harmonisées du degré de mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle de salaire et d’éducation pour 15 pays européens de l’OCDE, grâce à l’utilisation de nouvelles donnes microéconomiques publiées par Eurostat. Il analyse également le rôle des politiques en vigueur sur le marché du travail et sur le marché des produits dans l’explication des différences de mobilité entre pays. Les estimations suggèrent que la persistance intergénérationnelle des salaires est relativement élevée dans les pays du Sud de l’Europe, ainsi qu’au Royaume-Uni. De la même façon, la persistance intergénérationnelle du niveau d’éducation est relativement élevée dans les pays du Sud de l’Europe, ainsi qu’au Luxembourg. En revanche, la persistance intergénérationnelle, aussi bien du niveau de l’éducation que des salaires, est relativement faible dans les pays nordiques. De plus, les résultats empiriques montrent que dans les pays européens de l’OCDE, l’éducation est un vecteur important de la mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle. L’étude suggère qu’il existe une corrélation positive entre la mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle des salaires et la générosité des politiques de redistribution du revenu, résultat qui s’applique également à l’analyse de l’impact des instances de négociation collective qui compressent la grille salariale.
    Keywords: education, éducation, public policy, politique publique, intergenerational wage mobility, mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle des salariés, intergenerational education mobility, mobilité sociale intergénérationnelle de l'éducation, household survey data, données sur les ménages
    JEL: C20 C21 H23 H31 J60 J62
    Date: 2009–07–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:709-en&r=ltv
  4. By: Gareth D. Myles
    Abstract: Economic growth is the basis of increased prosperity. This makes the attainment of growth a key objective for governments across the world. The rate of growth can be affected by policy choices through the effect that taxation has upon economic decisions and through productive public expenditures. This paper provides a self-contained introduction to the economic modelling of growth and reviews the theoretical evidence on the extent of the link between taxation and growth.<P>La croissance économique et le rôle de la fiscalité - Théorie<BR>La croissance économique est au fondement du progrès de la prospérité. Ceci fait de la croissance un objectif majeur pour les gouvernements du monde entier. Le taux de croissance peut être influencé par des choix de politique économique relatifs à la fiscalité, laquelle a un effet sur les décisions économiques des agents et est liée aux dépenses publiques productives. Cette étude fournit une introduction autonome à la modélisation économique de la croissance et résume les résultats empiriques traitant du lien entre la fiscalité et la croissance.
    Keywords: taxation, fiscalité, croissance économique, croissance, public policy, politique publique, economic growth
    JEL: H2 H3 O4
    Date: 2009–07–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:713-en&r=ltv

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