Incomes Policy Research Articles

Belediye Yönetimlerinin Gelir ve Harcama Politikaları Nasıl Olmalıdır?

Revenue and expenditure policies of municipal governments should be determined by taking into account the principles of sustainability, efficiency and justice of local governments. The main purpose of these policies is for municipalities to provide public services effectively and increase the welfare of the society. Revenue policies determine the resources that municipalities can use to meet their budget needs. These sources generally consist of local taxes, fees, transfers and other revenue sources. It is important that income policies are fair and burden different segments of society in a balanced manner. At the same time, a reliable basis should be created for budget planning and long-term investments by ensuring the continuity and predictability of revenues. Expenditure policies determine how municipalities will use these resources. Expenditures should be aimed at increasing the efficiency of municipal services. In this context, investments should be made in priority areas, projects that will increase efficiency should be prioritized and waste of resources should be prevented. In addition, spending policies should be transparent and shared with the public so that the society can receive the services they expect from municipalities and participate in management processes. In this study, the revenue and expenditure policies of municipalities were examined by comparative analysis method and some determinations were made about how the municipalities' revenue and expenditure policies would be. In this context, the revenue and expenditure policies of municipal governments should be regulated in a balanced and fair manner to meet local needs, ensure sustainability and increase social welfare. Correct implementation of these policies will strengthen the effectiveness of local governments and their trust relationship with the society. Key Words: Local Administrations, Municipalities, Revenue Policies, Expenditure Policies, Participatory Budget Jel Code: E62, H71, H72

Exogenous Increases in Basic Income Provisions Increase Preventive Health-Seeking Behavior: A Quasi-Experimental Study

IntroductionUniversal Basic Income (UBI) policies have the potential to promote a wide range of public health objectives by providing those who qualify with direct cash payments. One overlooked mechanism of particular importance to health researchers is the possibility that guaranteed income might increase consultation of primary and preventive care (e.g., annual doctors’ visits; regular vaccination against infectious disease) by providing people with both the time and monetary resources to do so, thereby improving general health. MethodsThis study assesses the effects of an exogenous shock to Alaska's UBI payments to all state residents: a 2022 decision to reclassify dividend “energy relief” provisions as non-taxable (thereby increasing payments by approximately $2,000 inflation-adjusted dollars). It estimates quasi- experimental treatment effects (in 2022 vs. 2021) via mixed linear probability models that compare pre/post policy change in primary care seeking behavior in Alaska vs. the US adult population; controlling for respondent-level fixed effects and state-level random effects. Data were collected in 2021-2022, and analyzed in 2024. ResultsThe likelihood that Alaskans sought primary care post-reform (relative to beforehand) increased by 6pp, which was significantly greater than the same difference (2pp) observed across all other (non- UBI) US States (∆ = 4pp, p < 0.01). The study provides suggestive evidence that comparatively fewer Alaskans had difficulty affording primary care during this period, with less-consistent evidence of increased flu vaccine uptake. ConclusionsEnhanced UBI payments ought to be thought about as a form of health policy, as they have the potential to advance a wide range of health objectives related to preventive care.

More than survival. The meanings of cash transfers for the poor

PurposeThis article challenges the prevailing view that a minimum income for the poor is only relevant to basic needs. It contributes to the discussion on the meanings of money by specifically focusing on the Italian Citizenship Income scheme as a case study.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research design was developed and implemented in four regions of northern Italy. The analysis is based on 131 in-depth interviews with minimum income recipients.FindingsThe empirical analysis shows that money transfer has various meanings. Four dimensions are identified: functional, relational, protective, and emancipatory. The first two are connected to spending, while the latter two are related to self-identity. Although the four dimensions may overlap and coexist in the daily lives of minimum income beneficiaries, they are distinguished for analytical purposes.Originality/valueThe article presents a comprehensive analysis of the multiple meanings that minimum income can have for beneficiaries; meanings which are often not explicitly addressed in social policy studies. It goes beyond the equally important consideration of material needs by adding other meaningful aspects. This approach makes a different way of looking at cash transfers possible, and it provides elements useful for the design and analysis of minimum income policies.

Footprint analysis and the incidence of emission taxes

We show that the incidence of emission taxes on consumer income classes is proportional to the footprints of their respective consumption bundles. The dimensions of the footprints are industry by product, but the literature employs industry-by-industry input-output coefficients. We rectify footprint analysis by returning to the underlying national accounts, the use and make tables. Bringing in budget shares data of the different income classes (Engel curves), we show that the carbon dioxide footprint per euro expenditure decreases with income in the Netherlands. Our result renders an emission tax regressive and thus implies a tradeoff between environmental and income policies.

Income mobility and crime: a hierarchical cluster analysis on principal components for 27 OECD countries

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to investigate the linkages between intergenerational income mobility and crime for 27 OECD countries, considering different types of crime, family ties, enforcement, in terms of punishment rate and perceived quality of the legal system, redistributive outcomes and government expenditure.Design/methodology/approachUsing the Global Database of Intergenerational Mobility (GDIM), the empirical analysis is conducted by coupling the principal components analysis with the hierarchical clustering. The variance tests verify the robustness of the clusters.FindingsIncome mobility is higher in those countries where there is high public investment devoted to education and high perception of rule of law to buffer the adverse effects of crime on income mobility. The redistributive policies must be oriented to better the wealth distribution and not only income equality opportunity to decrease crime and to increase income mobility. A plausible existence of “hidden” income mobility emerges from the linkages between income mobility and frauds.Social implicationsMore redistributive policies for education, income and wealth equality should be applied in those countries with low income mobility and high violent crime rates; higher punishment rates should be applied to reduce the rates of thefts and frauds in high income mobility countries.Originality/valueThe main contribution is the identification of what type of crime leads to downward income mobility, as well as the role of perceived quality of the legal system, government and family ties in the association between income mobility and crime, suggesting also the potential existence of “hidden” income mobility.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0520

Formation of an effective social policy at domestic enterprises in conditions of uncertainty

Methods. The article is based on the use of such research methods as: scientific abstraction – when defining the essence of the concept of «enterprise social policy»; system analysis in terms of the application of the decomposition of elements – when distinguishing the components of the construction of social policy at the enterprise; general and specific – when establishing the relationship between the social policy of the state and the social policy of the enterprise; statistical methods – when analyzing income under social protection schemes in Ukraine for the period 2018–2022. Results. The analysis of theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of the concept of «social policy of the enterprise» was carried out, and the author’s vision of its essence was proposed. The levels of social policy implementation by economic entities were identified and its functions at each of the levels were distinguished. The structure of the social policy at the enterprise is considered and the following directions are singled out: employment policy, income policy, policy of cooperation between employers and trade unions, policy of social security and social protection, policy of improving the quality of employees, working life, etc. The interdependence between the social policy of the state and the social policy of the enterprise was established, its connection with the socio-economic indicators of business development was demonstrated, and it was proved that it is the basis for an active policy of developing the intellectual potential of the enterprise. The analysis of financial income under schemes of social protection of the population in Ukraine for the period 2018–2022 was carried out, as well as a detailed analysis of the types of income that form the basis for ensuring social protection of the population in 2022. Novelty. The author’s definition of the concept of «enterprise social policy» is provided, namely: it is presented as management of the process of providing social services and creating appropriate conditions for employees of enterprises and their families, motivating and increasing the effectiveness of their innovative and creative abilities, with the aim of forming adaptive and progressive development business entities and the state. A model of social policy formation as a basis for the development of intellectual potential at the enterprise is proposed. Practical value. Based on the data of the analysis, it was determined that the social policy of the domestic enterprise is part of the social policy of the state, and therefore is in close interdependence with the directions of its implementation at the national level of the functioning of the economy. That is why the attention of the management of enterprises to the activities of the state in the social sphere, which is discussed in this article, can contribute to the formation of more real social orientations of business.

Transferências de renda e dívida das famílias. O avanço da colateralização da política social em meio a crises de reestruturação

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to address how household debt and contemporary credit markets seem to be the defining elements in the reshaping of social policy both in developing and developed countries. We start off by recalling how the implementation of income policies as the core of a new social protection paradigm has contributed to promote market-based finance. We take Brazil as a case study to illustrate how this new connection between state guaranteed income policies and credit markets has unfolded resulting in increasing household debt. We show evidence that the connection between household debt and state-provided monetary benefits is effective and significant.

Constitutionalising the Social Minimum in Greece: The Enduring Legacy of the Euro-crisis on the Social Constitution

Constitutionalisation of the decent standard of living in Greece – Euro-crisis and constitutional change – Financial assistance conditionality and minimum income policy – Decent standard of living in crisis jurisprudence

Inequalities: The Economic Foundation

Inequality takes many forms, but it starts with inequality of wealth and incomes. From that flows inequality is social mobility, life expectancy, educational attainment and even happiness. And the inequality of wealth and income is very extreme – both withing countries and between rich and poor countries. The gaps are hardly narrowing, if at all. Behind extreme inequality is the concentration of the bulk of wealth in the form of the ownership of productive capital in just a few adults in the world – no more 1% of 8bn people. That concentration has arisen because of the economic structure of the capitalist mode of production as it has spread across the world in the last century. While that basic structure remains in place, redistribution policies for income and wealth will be inadequate. A fundamental change in the social and economic formation of modern economies is required.

The effect of migration on economic and productivity growth in Russia

This research endeavors to delve into the impact of migration flows on the nation’s economic and productivity growth based on panel data from 80 Russian states for the period of 2015–2021. Our research aims to induce migration policies for the sustainable income and productivity growth of Russia. From the baseline regression analysis with state fixed effects and additional analysis with state random effects and the two-step system GMM, we found a positive impact of migration growth rate on per capita and TFP and the heterogeneity of its effects depending on the Russian regions. It indicates that migration outflows negatively influence the regional economies of Russia and suppress regional economic growth and the positive effects of migration inflows are the strongest shown in less populated states in the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts. This is evidence of the negative effects of migration outflows, which are summarized by the exodus of labor and the loss of tax revenues. The Russian government should implement migration policies both in international and domestic contexts to attract migrants, considering that Russia suffers from outflows of skilled workers to other countries and unbalanced domestic migration flows to west Russia. To reduce migration outflows of workers to other countries, quality jobs should be created (through an increase in R&amp;D), and other incentives and subsidies can be provided to encourage emigrants to return to Russia. For the migration inflows of small regions in Russia, domestic and foreign investment should be promoted to create jobs and establish infrastructure, which can also help slow down immigration from these regions.

Public deliberation and policy crisis: the moderating effects of deliberation on policy support determinants

This study investigates the moderating effects of public deliberation on policy support determinants: self-interests, symbolic attitudes and sociotropic perceptions. It explores how individual attitudes and policy preferences evolve during deliberation, focusing on Gyeonggi Province’s basic income policy held in 2020 in South Korea. The paper reveals that while public deliberation, through information and group discussions, reduces the influence of material self-interests on policy preferences, it has a relatively limited effect on symbolic attitudes and sociotropic perceptions.

Potential impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy's Income Stabilisation Tool on farmers' incomes and crop diversity: A French case study

AbstractThis paper analyses the potential impacts of a hypothetical implementation of the Income Stabilisation Tool (IST) in France for the field crops sector. The IST is a risk management tool available within the 2014–2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to support farmers facing a severe drop in their incomes. This analysis was conducted using a farm‐level model relying on expected utility theory and based on positive mathematical programming with risk. The model was applied to a sample of 1375 field crop farms in France derived from Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data. Simulation results show that the uptake rate of the tool is relatively low, less than 37% in all scenarios. It is strongly dependent on CAP public support and on how much premium farmers have to pay. Highest uptake rates are observed in farms specialising in Other Field Crops, such as potatoes, pulses and sugar beet, and farms located in regions highly exposed to climatic risks. Previous experience with insurance favours the acceptance of the IST. Model results also show that the IST improves adopters' income and reduces income inequality. However, its impacts on crop diversity, measured by the Shannon index, are negative.

Crowding-out effect between income policies and public services budgets in OECD countries

Challenges such as globalization and the digital economy are affecting the labor market and causing social exclusion. Thus, the relevance of income policies, which are responsible for the citizens’ financial security, is understood. This study aimed to evaluate the budget expansion of income policies between 1970 and 2019 and verify if there is a crowding-out effect between their budget and public services from 2000 to 2019 in OECD countries. The theoretical framework addressed the welfare state, income policies, budget disputes and austerity, and the crowding-out and crowding-in (complementarity) effects. Methodologically, descriptive and graphical analyses, correlation analyses, Granger causality tests, and GMM system short panel regression were used. The results indicated an expansion of income policy budgets, emphasizing investments in social security and pension systems. Also, a mixed relationship was observed between the acceptance of the crowding-out hypothesis and income policies and public services, with a tendency to exclude public services for expansion in income policies. Limitations were observed due to the lack of some data from the broad database used.

Minsky Theory of Inflation: An Empirical Analysis of OECD Countries

This article investigates the dynamics of the four-decade-long disinflationary trend combined with cyclical inflation in OEDC countries. Minsky’s inflation model is adopted as the analytical framework and its relevance is demonstrated for modern consumption-driven economies that have gone through the globalization of the production process and the weakening of workers’ bargaining power since the 1980s. We find that unit labor cost and demand channels through household, business, and government spending are significant in explaining inflation in twenty-eight OECD countries during both the post-Bretton Woods period and the Great Moderation period. We also find evidence suggesting that central banks are not capable of achieving price stability either with their key instrument or by exploiting the trade-off between unemployment and inflation. Overall, our results contend that a more effective strategy would be demand management via fiscal policy or credit guidance and an income policy that directly affects labor bargaining power.

Introduction: Emergency basic income: Distraction or opportunity?

AbstractThis themed issue, guest‐edited by Jurgen De Wispelaere and Troy Henderson, is devoted to examining, first, whether the widespread use of immediate and unconditional cash transfers as a policy response to the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis has provided a boost to cash transfer programmes generally and to emergency basic income (EBI) policies more specifically. The set of articles then charts the reception of EBI‐type policies as a pandemic response in specific country or regional contexts, and reflects on their relevance for the future development of universal social protection and, especially, universal basic income (UBI). While the contribution to be made by basic income to realizing resilient and agile social protection policy responses merits serious consideration, in particular in a context where existing social protection systems are patchy and fragmented, important questions remain as to how to evaluate the time‐limited EBI crisis response in light of the more durable needs which a permanent UBI purports to address.

Promotion of social welfare from public income policies in OECD countries and relationship with fiscal policies

Resumo As políticas de renda são fundamentais em tempos de complexidades sociais e dificuldades socioeconômicas. Nesse contexto, este estudo avalia a influência das políticas públicas de renda, em particular previdência e pensão, transferência condicionada e auxílio-desemprego, sobre condições de desenvolvimento, igualdade de renda e pobreza, além do papel de sistemas fiscais sobre elas. Na revisão de literatura, abordam-se cidadania, Estado de bem-estar social, políticas de renda e fiscais, desenvolvimento, desigualdade e pobreza, assim como resultados da ação das políticas renda. Em termos metodológicos, este é um estudo quantitativo que se utiliza de dados em painel, envolvendo 43 países da OCDE e os anos de 2000 a 2019. Operacionalmente, realizam-se análises exploratórias de dados e regressões pelo método System GMM. Os resultados indicam as políticas públicas de renda principalmente como mitigadoras de concentração de renda e promotoras de condições de saúde infantil e cidadania, caminhando como investimento social para o desenvolvimento.

Shifting the paradigm for securing efficient management of exchange rate in Nigeria: A GARCH and BEKK-MGARCH analysis

The influence of foreign exchange on all spheres of any economy is germane to determining its extent of development. Most developing countries have been subjected to managing the integrity of the exchange rate arising from their disadvantageous position in world trade. Nigeria is not an exemption either; this is due to its constant interventions in the foreign exchange market from time to time and by the policy of the existing government in power. However, the interventionist policy framework has been more harmful to Naira as the currency depreciates unabatedly. The pertinent question is whether monetary policy should be the only approach to effective exchange rate management or be combined with fiscal and income policies. Irrespective of the policy choice, the aim, target, and instrument must be complementary without unnecessary disruptions midway, as usually experienced in Nigeria. These inconsistencies have come to bear enormously on the country's exchange rate management. Rather than focusing on the impact of exchange rate volatility on industrial development that could warrant foreign exchange inflows, this paper considers industrialization as an approach to effectively managing exchange rates in Nigeria. This analysis employs a univariate GARCH and BEKK-MGARCH model, using high-frequency monthly time series data from 2000 to 2019, to examine the volatility transmission between the foreign exchange market and the industrial sector. The model estimation uses the Conditional Maximum Likelihood Technique (CMLT). It was discovered that industrial development positively influenced the official market exchange rate compared to the parallel market exchange rate, reducing its volatility. The study thus suggests the vigorous pursuit of foreign exchange earnings and usage policy by earning entities, floating Diaspora bonds, enhancing and encouraging remittances and repatriation of illicit financial outflows to enhance industrialization. This will discourage arbitraging, increasing foreign exchange inflows and stabilizing the economy.

The implementation of the Guaranteed Minimum Income in times of COVID19: implications for Social Services in Spain

Minimum income policies are one of the social measures that have the greatest impact on social protection systems. After a year and a half since the implementation of the Guaranteed Minimum Income (IMV in Spanish) in Spain, this article aims at analyzing the perception of social workers on the effects of this new economic benefit on public Social Services. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology is followed, through a total number of six rounds of interviews in fifty-two social services centers located in different territories of the Spanish context. A total of 364 telephone interviews of 52 social service centers were conducted between July 20200 and September 2021. The results of this research point out to the unfulfilled expectations generated, the subordination of the social services to other institutional spheres, the bureaucratization of tasks and oversight in the social intervention processes, as well as the lack of recognition of social services' professionals regarding the management of this provision.

Monetary policy rules and wage bargaining structure in a New-Keynesian general equilibrium model with strategic interaction between unions and monetary authority

The objective of this article is to present a New Keynesian general equilibrium model in which the multiplicity of wage and price setters in a framework of strategic interaction between the private sector and monetary authority is a sufficient condition for non-neutrality of the monetary policy rule. In this theoretical framework we can show that (i) strategic interaction between monetary authority and labor unions produce the so-called “Calmfors-Driffil effect” in which different levels of centralization in wage bargains allowed to reach different results in terms of equilibrium unemployment rate; (ii) a higher level of conservatism in the conduction of monetary policy; i.e. higher weight for deviations of price inflation from the target in the monetary policy rule, for a given level of centralization of wage bargaining, produce better outcomes in terms of inflation and unemployment. These results shows that there is a trade-off between centralization of wage bargaining and a tighter monetary policy rule: the more centralized is the wage bargaining structure lower can be the weight of inflation in the monetary policy rule that allowed Central Bank could be to achieve some target level of inflation and unemployment. So, the model proposed here shows that income policies can be, in principle, such effective as monetary policy as a device for improve macroeconomic performance of capitalist economies.

Gender and Risk-Taking in the Building of U.S. Retirement Wealth

AbstractThe growing weight being placed on self-directed retirement accounts within the United States retirement income policy framework, and the time inconsistency challenge of individuals, particularly women, tending to under-invest in retirement savings accounts motivated the current work. Using data from the United States Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, for a period spanning from 1989 to 2019, 11 cross-sections of data, the paper investigated the role of gender in United States retirement risk-taking investment strategies of single (never married) individuals. The analysis documented increasing trends in the risk-taking of both single women and single men but recorded differences in the risk-taking profiles of the two groups, with single men taking more risk than single women in their retirement wealth building in most cross-sections, with the gender risk-taking gap dropping, nonetheless, algebraically in magnitude from 1989 to 2019.