This paper considers whether an equivalence scale implicit in transfer policy can be inferred from summary measures of reranking (whereby the rank order of pre-tax incomes is different from that of the post-tax distribution). It is conjectured that, if the government has a distributional...

We use a rational agent model of savings and labour supply to considering how consumer responses to a worsening of labour market opportunities could be influenced by the extent of private sector indebtedness. Our simulations indicate that responses to a negative labour market shock depend...

This paper describes a simple and tractable method for identifying equivalence scales that reflect the value judgements implicit in a tax and benefits system. The approach depends upon two assumptions that are standard in the literature concerned with inequality and tax progressivity, in...