This paper reassesses whether the optimal income tax program features an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or a Negative Income Tax (NIT) at the bottom of the income distribution, in the presence of unemployment and wage responses to taxation. The paper makes two key contributions. First, it...

This paper reassesses whether the optimal income tax program features an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or a Negative Income Tax (NIT) at the bottom of the income distribution, in the presence of unemployment and wage responses to taxation. The paper makes two key contributions. First, it...

In a general-equilibrium model, with individual heterogeneity and uninsurable idiosyncratic labor risk, I study a revenue-neutral reform of the U.S. income tax and welfare system that involves the adoption of a Negative Income Tax (NIT). I compare the NIT with a flat tax reform that keeps the...

Should developing countries give all of their citizens enough money to live on? Interest in this idea has grown enormously in recent years, reflecting both positive results from a number of existing cash transfer programs and dissatisfaction with the perceived limitations of piecemeal, targeted...

In this article, we review the desirability and feasibility of a universal basic income (UBI) scheme from the theoretical point of view. We first discuss the possible theoretical justifications of UBI, contrasting the unconditionality of UBI with the many conditions that typically accompany...

This dataset shows the income of jobless families relying on minimum-income safety-net benefits as a percentage of the median disposable income in the population. This can be compared with a poverty line defined as a fixed percentage of median income. For instance, if the poverty threshold is...

Grundeinkommen: Entwicklung und Stand der Diskussion. Für die Entkoppelung von Arbeit und Einkommen zu argumentieren, erübrigt sich. Dieser Prozess findet ohnehin statt, er wird aber kaum verstanden und keineswegs angemessen politisch reguliert. (Verlagstext)