Endorsing Pennacchi’s exhortation in La moralità del welfare (Donzelli, Roma, 2008) to abandon the homo oeconomicus paradigm and recognise a more complex preference structure, as well as the endogenous character of preferences themselves, this article dwells on some underrated shortcomings...

On Mother’s Day, May 10, 2009, the federal government announced an 18 week paid maternity leave scheme to be funded by taxpayers would be introduced in January 2011. This followed a one year review process beginning with the Productivity Commission (PC) being asked to enquire into the social...

The Australian government provides benefits to high income older people, which are intended to induce saving for retirement. It has not been established whether this unusual policy is effective. Using an illustrative two-period model, it is shown that these benefits may induce some people to...

This paper estimates the effect of marginal tax rates on demands for various financial assets, using the 1983-1989 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) panel. In the cross-section, marginal tax rates appear to have a strong and statistically significant influence on portfolio allocations, even...

Based on labour supply parameter estimates and childcare demand parameters for the Australian population in 2002, this paper illustrates how an extended childcare subsidy proposed by the Taskforce on Care Costs in October 2006 can be evaluated using a microsimulation model. First, the cost to...

This paper describes microsimulation modelling in non-technical terms and explains what can be achieved with microsimulation modelling in general, and the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator (MITTS) in particular. The focus is on behavioural microsimulation modelling, which takes...

This is an introduction to the papers in this special issue on policy simulations discussing a variety of simulation models. Simulation modelling has become a powerful tool to analyse hypothetical and actual policy changes. This issue contains analyses based on both macro- and micro-level data....

Recent US experience offers lessons about supply-side policies to sustain low unemployment. These include programs to change the skills of the workforce and improve the microeconomic incentives facing workers and employers. Two supply-side policies were greatly expanded after the mid-1980s....

. Este trabajo se centra en el estudio de los desincentivos al trabajo de las mujeres casadas inducidos por el sistema español de impuestos y prestaciones, así como de los cambios y continuidades que supone la reforma del IRPF de 2003 en este sentido. Utilizando modelos tax-benefit construidos...