In-kind Benefits Research Articles

Multidimensional child poverty in South Korea: developing measures to assess progress towards the sustainable development goals

This article presents the development of a measure to assess the prevalence and patterning of multidimensional child poverty in South Korea. The first goal of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to reduce poverty in all its dimensions, and countries are increasingly developing their own measures of multidimensional poverty. This flourishing of different measures presents challenges for international comparisons. The article applies an internationally-validated method of assessing multidimensional poverty to demonstrate its suitability for use in a high-income Asian economy. Multidimensional child poverty is assessed by combining data on child material deprivation with their household income. Using data from the 2018 Korean National Children Survey, we show that child material deprivation is higher (15%) than income poverty (12%). When measured using a combined measure of material deprivation and income, around one in every three children in Korea were found to be either poor or vulnerable to poverty. These findings show that the official monetary poverty measure on its own may understate the percentage of children unable to afford necessities in Korea, as envisioned by international targets like the SDGs. In terms of policy, analysis of individual deprivations suggests that a combination of in-kind benefits such as vouchers for leisure activities or education and asset-building programmes as well as cash transfers are needed for tackling child poverty.

The positive relationship between female employment and fertility rates: The role of family benefits expenditure and gender-role ideologies

This article interrogates the impacts of different types of family benefits expenditures on the positive relationship between female employment and fertility rates in developed welfare states. It does this by theorizing how these family benefits align with welfare state regimes’ preferences for different normative gender-role ideologies. Rather than treating family benefits as a monolith, this article investigates the impact of disaggregated expenditures in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) family policy database (1. services and in-kind benefits, 2. child-related cash benefits and 3. tax-based financial support for children) on both female employment and fertility rates. This is done using pooled time-series analysis covering the period 2000–9. The analysis yields evidence that expenditure most reflecting a ‘full egalitarian’ gender ideology including service and in-kind benefit provision has the most positive association with female employment and fertility due to an emphasis on defamiliarization. The picture for child-related cash benefits is mixed due to the presence of cash transfer provisions not employment-contingent captured in the indicator. In contrast, tax-based financial support for children harms female employment, reflecting a maternalistic ‘traditional’ ideological orientation, but is positive for fertility rates indicating a moderate pro-natal effect of tax-based financial support for children.

ATURAN PERPAJAKAN ATAS NATURA DAN/ATAU KENIKMATAN DI INDONESIA: ISU DAN TANTANGAN

This research aims to identify various issues and challenges as a result of an adjustment within the imposition of Income Tax Article 21 (“PPh 21”) upon in-kind benefits in the form of treatment of benefits (facilities/service) and in-kind remuneration (goods), whereby prior to the enactment of Law Number 7 of 2021 on the Harmonization of Tax Regulation (“UU HPP”), in-kind benefits were not included as the object of PPh 21. This research focuses on the Ministry of Finance Regulation Number 66/2023 on Income Tax Treatment of Replacement or Reward in Connection with Work or Services Received or Obtained in the Form of In-Kind Benefits (“PMK 66/2023”) as a technical regulation derived from the UU HPP which regulates in more detail the imposition and collection of taxes on in-kind benefits. The provisions in PMK 66/2023 will be analyzed in a structured manner using the principles of an ideal tax system–consisting of: revenue productivity, equity, and ease of administration–in order to comprehensively identify the issues and challenges within the implementation of this regulation. This research concludes that the government's main goal in significantly changing the taxation rules on in-kind benefit is to meet revenue productivity. However, in fulfilling this, the principles of equity and ease of administration have not been properly realized, given the fact that there are number of issues in the PMK 66/2023, which need to be further addressed. Accordingly, this research provides theoretical and practical contributions to the further development of tax regulations on in-kind benefits, whereby expected to accommodate the various issues and challenges as identified in this research.

Determinants of choosing in-kind benefits over cash: A study among Nepalese farmers.

This study investigates the determinants of choosing in-kind benefits over cash transfers when their respective values are equivalent. Employing a rigorous two-step experiment with a large sample size (n = 962), we offer real monetary rewards to respondents. In the first step, we asked whether the respondents would choose NRs. 1,000 (≈ US dollars 9) in cash or in-kind benefit that is worth NRs. 1,000. We observe that approximately two-thirds of participants opt for in-kind benefits of equal value to the proposed cash transfer. In analyzing the factors influencing this preference, our results indicate that households with higher non-farm incomes are less likely to choose in-kind benefits. Increasing the non-farm income by NRs. 100,000 respondents are 0.2% less likely to choose in-kind benefits. Furthermore, households with limited savings demonstrate a higher preference toward in-kind benefits over cash transfers. Not having NRs. 25,000 savings would make respondents 10% more likely to choose in-kind benefits. Previously receiving in-kind benefits also increase the likelihood of choosing them over cash. Additionally, households with restricted market access are more inclined to opt for in-kind benefits. Notably, in the second step of the experiment which involves only those who chose cash in the first step of the experiment, only 48% of respondents would opt for in-kind benefits even when values were higher by NRs. 150 to 450. This research sheds light on the factors affecting the decision-making process between in-kind benefits and cash transfers and provides insights into the design of effective social welfare policies. More specifically, findings from this study suggest tailored approaches for assisting people could be followed based on their income level and accessibility to the market.

Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Family Policy: Cash Transfers vs In-kind Benefits

Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Family Policy: Cash Transfers vs In-kind Benefits

Investigating the inclusiveness of the usipa value chain in Malawi

Value chain research increasingly seeks to assess the inclusiveness of value chains to better understand how to promote equitable and pro-poor development. This trend is especially relevant for small-scale fisheries value chains, which provide livelihoods, food security, and a social safety net for rural poor in many countries. Despite recent efforts to assess value chain inclusiveness, substantial knowledge gaps persist in small-scale fisheries value chains with respect to distribution of and access to benefits within and across different value chain nodes, particularly in the midstream (e.g. traders and processors). This study addresses this important research gap by utilizing an access mapping approach concerned with the distribution of benefits along the value chain for usipa (Engraulicypris sardella) in Malawi. Using a mixed methods approach, this analysis utilizes quantitative survey data (n = 929) at various nodes of the usipa value chain (fishers, processors, wholesalers, retailers), as well as qualitative focus group data (n = 60) and key informant interviews (n = 6), all collected in 2019. In line with the Structure-Conduct-Performance Paradigm, this study identifies value chain actors’ roles (structure), analyzes processes (conduct), and assesses the distribution of and access to income and in-kind benefits for different actors both within and across value chain nodes (performance). We calculate net income (revenues – expenses) for individual actors in each node of the value chain and find that (a) access to and distribution of income benefits from usipa vary substantially at group and individual levels; and (b) actors’ net income from the usipa value chain is negatively affected by unequal power distribution, price volatility and trade institutions, inadequate market infrastructure, social relations, and gender dynamics. This study advances approaches to study value chain inclusiveness, emphasizing the need to attend to variation and drivers acting at multiple scales, ranging from whole value chain structure to individual traders.

소득재분배정책은 소득 불평등을 완화하는가?

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of income redistribution policy, which is a government intervention to alleviate income inequality. To achieve the purpose of this study, data provided by various organizations such as OECD, World Bank, and WID were collected to form panel data consisting of 17 years of 33 countries.
 The results of confirming the relationship between income redistribution policy and income inequality through the differential moment method of the dynamic panel model using the relevant data are as follows. First, cash benefit spending was found to reduce income inequality. Second, the interaction between direct and indirect taxes and cash benefit spending was found to reduce income inequality, but was not statistically significant. Third, the interaction between direct taxes and in-kind benefit spending was found to deepen income inequality.
 Based on these key analysis results, we proposed improvements to existing social security policies, proposals for new social security policies, and directions for income redistribution policies that take into account the relationship between social security policies and tax policies in order to alleviate income inequality in the future.

Enrollment of dengue patients in a prospective cohort study in Umphang District, Thailand, during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for research and policy.

Dengue is endemic in Thailand and imposes a high burden on the health system and society. We conducted a prospective cohort study in Umphang District, Tak Province, Thailand, to investigate the share of dengue cases with long symptoms and their duration. Here we present the results of the enrollment process during the COVID-19 pandemic with implications and challenges for research and policy. In a prospective cohort study conducted in Umphang District, Thailand, we examined the prevalence of persistent symptoms in dengue cases. Clinically diagnosed cases were offered free laboratory testing, We enrolled ambulatory dengue patients regardless of age who were confirmed through a highly sensitive laboratory strategy (positive NS1 and/or IgM), agreed to follow-up visits, and gave informed consent. We used multivariate logistic regressions to assess the probability of clinical dengue being laboratory confirmed. To determine the factors associated with study enrollment, we analyzed the relationship of patient characteristics and month of screening to the likelihood of participation. To identify underrepresented groups, we compared the enrolled cohort to external data sources. The 150 clinical cases ranged from 1 to 85 years old. Most clinical cases (78%) were confirmed by a positive laboratory test, but only 19% of those confirmed enrolled in the cohort study. Women, who were half as likely to enroll as men, were underrepresented in the cohort. The Thai physicians' clinical diagnoses at this rural district hospital had good agreement with laboratory diagnoses. By identifying underrepresented groups and disparities, future studies can ensure the creation of statistically representative cohorts to maximize their scientific value. This involves recruiting and retaining underrepresented groups in health research, such as women in this study. Promising strategies for meaningful inclusion include multi-site enrollment, offering in-home or virtual services, and providing in-kind benefits like childcare for underrepresented groups.

In-kind forms of social support in the history of economic thought

Subject. The article addresses economic and social relations providing mechanisms for the formation of in-kind social support in the history of economic thought. Objectives. The purpose is to analyze various economic schools that theoretically underpin the stimulation of final consumer demand and prerequisites for the formation of in-kind forms of social support. Methods. With the help of methodological pluralism, we provide theoretical underpinning for determining the in-kind forms of social support in economics. Results. We reviewed the Keynesian and monetary approaches. The examination of problems of the Keynesian synthesis demonstrated that in-kind benefits in the social support system go beyond the scope of the study of these schools, manifesting themselves during the fiasco of the market. Austrian economics, using the theory of intertemporal market inconsistency due to unnatural design of the monetary institution, justified conditions for the formation of in-kind forms of social support. Conclusions. In-kind forms of social support are used not only as a State policy tool. They are also actively involved in market processes during market failures and in final demand stimulation. The introduction of technologies for the application of such forms between market participants enables to improve and develop economic relations, enrich theoretical base of scholarly studies.

Work Hours Volatility and Child Poverty: The Potential Mitigating Role of Safety Net Programs

Abstract Despite established links among persistent unemployment, low wages, and children’s economic well-being, social scientists have yet to document how variability in work hours is linked to child poverty. Our knowledge of the safety net’s heterogeneous responses to work-hour instability is also limited. This is of critical importance for scholars and policymakers. Using nationally representative data collected every 4 months, this paper examines how intra-year work-hour volatility is related to child poverty, measured through both the official poverty measure (OPM) and the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). It further assesses varying degrees of buffering effects of cash, in-kind benefits, and tax transfers on income in the context of work-hour volatility. Results indicate that more than one in four households (26%) facing the greatest volatility lived under the poverty line. Black and Hispanic children, as well as those living with unpartnered single mothers, faced substantially higher variability in household market hours worked. Hispanic children experienced not only greater volatility in their caregivers’ work hours but also higher poverty level, even after taking government programs into account. In-kind benefits are more effective in buffering household income declines resulting from unstable work hours, followed by tax transfers and cash benefits. The effectiveness of near-cash benefits is particularly salient among Black children and children of single mothers. These results provide new evidence to inform policy discussions surrounding the best ways to help socioeconomically disadvantaged families to retain benefits and smooth their income in the face of frequent variation in work hours and, thus, earnings.

Structure and Organization of Home-Based Care for Older Adults in Different Countries: A Scoping Review

Background: Home care (HC) for older people is important due to population aging, chronic diseases, and cost-effectiveness. Sharing experiences of leading countries in home-based long term care (LTC) is needed. Objectives: This review describes the structure of HC for older adults in different countries. Methods: A scoping review was done on HC published in English, using databases and grey literature. The search was from January 2022 to June 2023. The main keywords were 'home care', 'old', 'Funding', 'organization', 'training', 'policy', 'formal care', and 'home-based services'. Data are categorized into 7 domains, including (1) governing, (2) long-term care insurance (LTCI), eligibility for HC services and financing, (3) benefits, (4) marketization and free choice system, (5) workforce training, (6) quality assurance of care, and (7) supporting caregivers. Results: Out of 4072 studies, 50 documents from 23 countries were analyzed. Each study covers some HC domains, and some compare domains in some Asian and European countries. The regulation enables authorities to organize quality care. Ministries provide legal frameworks, and municipalities are autonomous in determining principles and financing. Older adults receive cash and in-kind benefits based on their needs or assets. Financing is done by insurance, taxes, or privately. Some countries have mandatory quality assessment of services. Conclusions: This review can generate novel insights into designing HC systems according to different contexts. However, comprehensive information on HC organizations for older adults was only available in some countries. Therefore, further in-depth studies are needed to assess each component of the HC system separately. For developing countries, some recommendations are to define legal rights and responsibilities for caregivers and older individuals, to provide universal coverage of LTCI for all older adults, to offer financial and care options to help pay for HC, and to train family caregivers.

Migration and public finances in the EU

We provide novel and comprehensive evidence on the net fiscal contributions of natives and migrants to the governmental budgets of EU countries. We account for income taxes and cash benefits, along with indirect taxes and in-kind benefits, which are often missing in standard datasets. We find that on average, migrants were net contributors to public finances over the period of 2014–2018 in the EU and, moreover, that they contribute approximately €1.5 thousand more per capita each year than natives. We also show that this difference is partly due to the selection on characteristics that make migrants net fiscal contributors, such as demographic factors and employment probability.

Impact Evaluation of Cash-For-Care in Latin America's New Long-Term Care Policies: A Randomized Controlled Trial Pilot Study in Costa Rica.

Latin America is aging rapidly. Thus, governments in the region are reformulating their social protection policies. In 2022, Costa Rica passed a national long-term care law. A discussion developed on how to provide such care, whether through public or private in-kind benefits or cash-for-care (CfC) to beneficiaries. CfC has been used in developed countries with various outcomes. However, there are still no evaluations of its effects in middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of CfC pilot study on female caregivers in a middle-income country. The expectations of the program were to find positive effects of CfC on caregivers. After conducting a literature review, we developed four domains of analysis: labor market participation, time for personal activities, use of CfC, and caregiver burnout. The results indicate that CfC has no significant impact on caregivers' integration into the labor market, or ability to have leisure time. However, there was a positive effect on the funding of basic needs and mitigation of factors predicting burnout.

민영치매보험의 현물급부에 대한 이용 및 이용 의향에 대한 영향요인 분석

This study empirically analyzed the influencing factors on the use and intention to use dementia treatment for dementia patients. Research data were collected through an online survey, and the study subjects were 300 dementia patients (N=300). As the result of logistic regression analysis, as the treatment place was a medical institution, the more types of long-term care services currently in use, the longer the elapsed time since the first diagnosis of dementia, the higher the use and intention to use speech therapy services. As the dementia patient was male, the more types of long-term care services currently in use, and the higher the elderly long-term care level, the higher the use and intention to use brain stimulation therapy services. As the guardian of the dementia patient was male, the use and intention to use the emergency monitoring service were higher. The results of this study can be usefully used for developing in-kind benefits for private dementia insurance and for marketing activities. It is expected to contribute to the strengthening of the social safety net of private insurance , the development of the healthcare industry, and diminishing social costs through the vitalization of dementia-related in-kind benefits.

Are Scholars’ Wages Correlated with their Human Capital?

Throughout our project on premodern academia, we use a heuristic human capital index to measure each scholar’s quality. This index is built by combining several statistics from individual Wikipedia and Worldcat pages. The question we address here is whether this measure is correlated with the actual wages professors received. This note is a technical appendix to our paper on the academic market (De la Croix et al. 2020) but also has an interest as a stand-alone publication.
 There is considerable evidence that compensations for academic contractswentwell beyond paid salaries.1 They included payments from students, prebends,2 and many forms of in-kind benefits. Yet, it is interesting to examine the relationship between scholars’ human capital and existing data on monetary remunerations. Such remunerations have been used by Dittmar (2019) to show that professor salaries increased significantly relative to skilled wages after printing spread, with science professors benefiting from the largest salary increases. In the two sections below, we first review the available data on salaries, and argue that such data are imperfect proxies for the overall remuneration for academic services (i.e. a scholar’s market value). Keeping in mind such limitations, we thendocument a positive correlation between monetary income and scholars’ human capital.

Intra-year employment instability and economic well-being among urban households: Mitigating effects of the social safety net

Labor market structures and job characteristics have changed in the United States over the last few decades – often making work more unpredictable. Employment instability, or job churning, may have distinct consequences for households’ economic well-being. Meanwhile, American social policies have shifted from cash-based benefits toward in-kind and work-conditioned programs. Yet, we know little about how social programs buffer the financial hardships imposed by economic shocks due to job churning. This paper harnesses novel data collected at 3-month intervals to study the associations between household members’ employment trajectories and (1) household income packages, (2) poverty status, and (3) material hardships, paying particular attention to whether government benefit receipt buffers against the adverse financial consequences of unstable employment. We find that consistent unemployment is most strongly associated with low income and poverty but not material hardship. Unstably employed households, particularly those that are single-adult headed households and experienced only job losses are significantly more likely to experience material hardship than consistently employed households. Our results also suggest that cash transfers effectively buffer against the negative impact of persistent unemployment, while in-kind transfers appear more important for unstably employed households, particularly those that are single-adult headed households. Together, these results highlight the roles and extent of impacts of cash, in-kind benefits, and the tax system, which can inform future policy recommendations in an age of high levels of economic insecurity.

Welfare type and income inequality: an income source decomposition including in-kind benefits and cash-transfers entitlement

This paper aims to understand whether a shift towards a more balanced cash transfer and service-based welfare system is valuable in terms of reducing income inequality and what factors mostly contribute to the income inequality evolution. To examine this, I first impute the monetary values of in-kind benefits and then reassess Gini coefficients across countries and welfare regimes. I also compare the role of cash transfers by functions and, more importantly, by how they are allocated. By means of factor source decomposition, the elasticities confirm wages as being the income source that creates most inequalities, while taxes play the most equalising role together with cash transfers. However, universal services such as healthcare and compulsory education outperform most of the cash transfers included in the analysis, with a stronger effect in the Mediterranean countries. Although in-kind services play a marginal role in explaining the changes in the Gini coefficient between 2008 and 2017, results suggest that a coordinated view of cash transfers and public services, as well as increasing the share of non-contributory means tested transfers, can reduce income inequality in all welfare regimes.

How Distributional Conflict over In-Kind Benefits Generates Support for Far-Right Parties

Does granting immigrants access to the welfare state increase support for far-right parties? This article makes two contributions to this debate. Theoretically, we highlight the importance of welfare programs that provide benefits in kind. Because they are prone to congestion, in-kind programs are vulnerable to localized demand shocks that can activate distributional conflict between natives and immigrants. Empirically, we identify the impact of distributional conflict on national electoral outcomes by leveraging an exogenous shock to welfare eligibility. Focusing on an EU directive that forced Austrian municipalities to open public housing to previously excluded immigrants, we show that the reform increased support for far-right parties with welfare chauvinist platforms. Electoral ward data suggest that this response was concentrated in districts with a high proportion of public housing beneficiaries or low-end rentals. Our findings provide novel evidence that distributional conflict can accelerate the rise of far-right parties in countries with substantial in-kind welfare programs.

민영건강보험의 현물급부에 대한 소비자 이용의 결정요인 분석

This study empirically analyzed the determinants of the use of housekeepers for those with experience in surgery, cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Research data collected through an online survey targeting 756 people, specifically, 250 surgery patients (N=250), 280 cancer patients(N=280), and 226 cardiovascular and cerebrovascular patients(N=226). As a result of the analysis, the reason for surgery is the biggest influencing factor in the use of housekeepers for surgery patients. In the case of surgery due to an injury, the likelihood of using a housekeeper was 2.832 times higher than when the cause of the operation was a disease. Cancer metastasis is the most influential factor in the use of housekeepers for cancer patients. Those with metastases were found to be 3.052 times more likely to use a housekeeper than those without metastases. The type of treatment is the biggest influencing factor on the use of housekeepers in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular patients. When the number of treated types increased by 1, the likelihood of using a housekeeper was 2.043 times higher. The results of this study can be usefully used in the marketing or product development of in-kind benefit products. It is thought that private insurance will contribute to strengthening the social safety net by activating the housekeeper service.

Redistributive Effect and the Progressivity of Taxes and Benefits

We apply the Kakwani approach to decomposing redistributive effect intoaverage rate, progressivity, and reranking components, using yearly datafrom the United Kingdom covering the period of 1977-2018. We examinecash and in-kind benefits, and direct and indirect taxes. In addition, wehighlight an empirical implementation issue – the definition of the reference(pre-fisc) distribution. Drawing on an innovative counterfactual approach,our empirical analysis shows that trends in the redistributive effect of cashbenefits are largely associated with cyclical changes in average benefit rates.In contrast, trends in the redistributive effects of direct and indirect taxesare mostly associated with changes in progressivity. For in-kind benefits,changes in the average benefit rate and progressivity each played major rolesat different times.