The current Italian income support policies are defective with respect to both efficiency and equity. A more effective design must face five crucial choices: universal vs. categorical policies; transfers vs. subsidies; unconditional vs. means-tested policies; coverage; flat vs. progressive tax...

The book suggests a novel way how the effects of tax reforms especially in the field of capital income taxation can be measured by means of dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. Using a model calibrated to the German economy, the author evaluates and quantifies the effects of...

This paper discusses methods for evaluating the impacts of social programs prior to their implementation. Ex ante evaluation is useful for designing programs that achieve some optimality criteria, such as maximizing impact for a given cost. This paper illustrates through several examples the use...

This paper contributes to the literature on welfare programs by estimating the impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) on labor supply in Brazil. Unlike other CCT programs that have been studied, Bolsa Família is a widespread program that have taken place not only in rural and isolated...

We study the impact of a mandatory activation program for young welfare recipients in the Netherlands. Introduced at the end of 2009, the goal of the program was to prevent so-called NEETs (individuals not in employment, education or training). We use a large administrative data set for the...

The empirical effects of place-based tax incentive schemes designed to aid low income communities are unclear. While a growing number of studies find beneficial effects on employment, there is little investigation into other behaviors of households affected by such programs. We analyze the...