Is financial literacy a substitute or complement for financial advice? In this paper we analyze the decision by consumers to seek financial advice in the form of credit counseling concerning their credit and debt. Credit counseling is an important component of the consumer credit sector for...

This paper provides causal estimates of the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using a sharp geographical discontinuity in teacher salaries. We compare schools in close proximity to a pay zone boundary to estimate the effect of teacher salary differentials on pupil attainment. We find...

This paper considers the development of tax policy in the UK over the last decade or so and assesses policy change against a low bar- consistency and coherence. While this government has followed some consistent policies- notably, in some aspects of corporation tax and in increasing the income...

A model of labour supply is developed in which individuals face restrictions on hours choices. Observed hours reflect both the distribution of preferences and the distribution of off ers. In this framework the choice set is limited and observed hours may not appear to satisfy the revealed...

The redistributive objectives of the UK state pension system have often been somewhat ambiguous, and have changed over time as different governments have come and gone. In this paper, we use detailed data on households' histories of employment, earnings and contributions to the National...

The pensioner population a decade from now is likely to look different to today's population. There will not only be more pensioners but those retiring over the next few years will have experienced different economic conditions in their working lives, been subject to a different policy...

This paper analyses the key trends in child poverty in Britain, with particular focus on changes since the late 1990s when the issue was promoted towards the top of the policy agenda. The position of low-income families with children in the income distribution improved considerably in the late...

A model of labour supply is developed in which individuals face restrictions on hours choices. Observed hours reflect both the distribution of preferences and the distribution of offers. In this framework the choice set is limited and observed hours may not satisfy the revealed preference...

I undertake a political economy exercise of a type described in John Rawls' A Theory of Justice; namely, one in which economic institutions are judged by how well they match the key principles in theories of distributive justice. My main contention is that such an exercise is integrally related...

This paper documents the heterogeneity in labor market volatility across ages and gender in the United States over 1976-2014. We separate fluctuations in hours worked into fluctuations in the average number of hours per worker (the intensive margin) and fluctuations in the number of individuals...