Exchangeably weighted bootstrap schemes

Presentation (2022, November 18)

The exchangeably weighted bootstrap is one of the many variants of bootstrap resampling schemes. Rather than directly drawing observations with replacement from the data, weighted bootstrap schemes ... [more ▼]

The exchangeably weighted bootstrap is one of the many variants of bootstrap resampling schemes. Rather than directly drawing observations with replacement from the data, weighted bootstrap schemes generate vectors of replication weights to form bootstrap replications. Various ways to generate the replication weights can be adopted, and some choices bring practical computational advantages. This presentation demonstrates how easily such schemes can be implemented and where they are particularly useful, and introduces the exbsample command, which facilitates their implementation. [less ▲]

La COVID-19 au Luxembourg: Le gradient social de l'épidémie

Report (2022)

This report explores socio-economic and demographic disparities in COVID-19 health impacts in Luxembourg since March 2020. It describes variations in the risk of infections, hospitalizations and death ... [more ▼]

This report explores socio-economic and demographic disparities in COVID-19 health impacts in Luxembourg since March 2020. It describes variations in the risk of infections, hospitalizations and death across a number of socio-economic and demographic variables. It also examines variations in vaccination rates. It is part of the "Santé Pour Tous" project initiated by the Ministry of Health to under inequalities in health. [less ▲]

The wealth (disadvantage) of single-parent households

in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (2022), 702(1), 188-204

Wealth is a buffer against economic shocks and the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. We investigate the wealth of single-parent households in six high-income countries that span a variety of ... [more ▼]

Wealth is a buffer against economic shocks and the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage. We investigate the wealth of single-parent households in six high-income countries that span a variety of institutional contexts and welfare regimes. Using household survey data, we show that single-parent households in all these countries are disadvantaged in the wealth they hold, compared to dual-parent households—more so in Great Britain, France, Germany, and the United States; and less so in Italy and, especially, Spain. We tease out major differences in types of wealth holdings in single- and dual-parent households. We find that the single-parent wealth deficit is not explained by differences in age or number of children but that it is influenced by education, income, homeownership, and receipt of intergenerational transfers. We discuss the policy implications of our findings, both in terms of how single parents are treated in social protection and taxation systems and, more broadly, in the supports they require if they are to overcome barriers to accumulating wealth. [less ▲]

Intergenerational wealth transfers in Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey in comparative perspective

in Fiscal Studies (2022), 43(2), 179-199

Wealth surveys that collect information on intergenerational transfers provide new scope for comparative study of those transfers and their relationship with wealth across rich countries. However, this is ... [more ▼]

Wealth surveys that collect information on intergenerational transfers provide new scope for comparative study of those transfers and their relationship with wealth across rich countries. However, this is problematic in the case of Great Britain, due to specific features of the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), the central source of survey-based household wealth data, in particular the extent of missing information in its first wave. This has severely constrained efforts to investigate patterns of wealth transfer in Great Britain in comparative perspective. In this paper, we set out these issues and present ways of dealing with them. On this basis, we then examine the main similarities and differences in patterns of intergenerational transmission of wealth between Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. Our findings reveal common features across these countries as well as some important respects in which Great Britain was distinctive, though less of an outlier than the US. About 35 per cent of British households reported receiving an intergenerational wealth transfer at some point, similar to most of the comparator countries but much higher than the US. We conclude by setting out how WAS can be enhanced to address these issues at source, proposals with which the Office for National Statistics is seriously engaged. [less ▲]

Distributional Change: Assessing the Contribution of Household Income Sources

in Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics (2022), n/a(n/a),

We develop a decomposition of changes in household income distributions by factor components to quantify the contribution of changes over time in the association between sources of income and changes in ... [more ▼]

We develop a decomposition of changes in household income distributions by factor components to quantify the contribution of changes over time in the association between sources of income and changes in their (marginal) distributions. The two components are broken down to isolate the contribution of specific income sources. An application to the change in the distribution of household incomes in Luxembourg between 2004 and 2013 reveals contrasted results: increased association between spouse earnings, public transfers and taxes depressed the income share of poor households while changes in marginal distributions increased incomes in the upper half of the distribution. [less ▲]

Public support for tax policies in COVID-19 times: Evidence from Luxembourg

E-print/Working paper (2021)

We study attitudes towards the introduction of hypothetical new taxes to finance the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on survey data collected in Luxembourg in 2020. The survey asks for the ... [more ▼]

We study attitudes towards the introduction of hypothetical new taxes to finance the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. We rely on survey data collected in Luxembourg in 2020. The survey asks for the agreement of respondents over: a one-time net wealth tax, an inheritance tax, a temporary solidarity income tax, and a temporary increase in VAT. All questions include different and randomly assigned tax attributes (tax rates and exemption amounts). We find a clear divide with relativelyhigh support for new wealth and inheritance taxes on the one hand and a low support for increases in VAT and income taxes on the other hand. While 58% of respondents agree or strongly agree with a one-time tax levied on net worth, only24% are in favor of a small increase in VAT. Support for any tax is however negatively associated with the size of the tax as measured by the predicted revenues. Our results indicate that a one-time wealth tax could raise substantial revenues andstill garner public support. [less ▲]

Unemployment and working hours of women and men during the pandemic

Report (2021)

Nearly all modern recessions have had one thing in common: men's employment has been affected significantly more than that of women. At least this was the case until 2020, with the recession caused by the ... [more ▼]

Nearly all modern recessions have had one thing in common: men's employment has been affected significantly more than that of women. At least this was the case until 2020, with the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has it been unique in terms of its origin, but also in terms of its impact on the labour market: for the first time women were significantly more likely than men to be laid off, furloughed or to experience a reduction in working hours. This has led some economists to coin the term “shecession” (she + recession) to describe the recent economic downturn [less ▲]

Accounting for Differences in Income Inequality across Countries: Tax-benefit Policy, Labour Market Structure, Returns and Demographics

in Journal of Economic Inequality (2021), 19

This paper presents a framework for studying international differences in the distribution of household income. Integrating micro-econometric and micro-simulation approaches in a decomposition analysis ... [more ▼]

This paper presents a framework for studying international differences in the distribution of household income. Integrating micro-econometric and micro-simulation approaches in a decomposition analysis, it quantifies the role of tax-benefit systems, employment and occupational structures, labour and financial market returns, and demographic composition in accounting for differences in income inequality across countries. Building upon EUROMOD (the European tax-benefit calculator) and its harmonised datasets, the model is portable and can be implemented for cross-country comparisons between any participating country. An application to the UK and Ireland—two countries that have much in common while displaying different levels of inequality—shows that differences in tax benefit rules between the two countries account for roughly half of the observed difference in disposable household income inequality. Demographic differences play negligible roles. The Irish tax-benefit system is more redistributive than UK\textquoterights due to a higher tax progressivity and higher average transfer rates. These are largely attributable to policy parameter differences, but also to differences in pre-tax, pre-transfer income distributions. [less ▲]

Time use, childcare and home schooling

Report (2021)

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected households around the globe in many dimensions. Governments' responses to the public health crisis have almost brought economies to a halt and unemployment rates have ... [more ▼]

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected households around the globe in many dimensions. Governments' responses to the public health crisis have almost brought economies to a halt and unemployment rates have jumped to historical highs.Work conditions for those who remained employed changed abruptly, with many being forced to work from home. As schools and daycare centres closed, child-care needs soared. Social distancing recommendations and stay-at-home orders made it difficult, if not impossible, for informal care providers, such as grandparents or other family members, to help with child-care responsibilities. So how did parents cope? [less ▲]

Rotation group bias in European Union social indicators

in Guio, Anne-Catherine; Marlier, Eric; Nolan, Brian (Eds.) Improving the understanding of poverty and social exclusion in Europe (2021)

EU-SILC relies on a 4-wave rotating panel design. A new population sample is drawn every year and selected respondents are interviewed annually for up to four years. A complete EU-SILC cross-section ... [more ▼]

EU-SILC relies on a 4-wave rotating panel design. A new population sample is drawn every year and selected respondents are interviewed annually for up to four years. A complete EU-SILC cross-section dataset therefore contains data from samples drawn independently in four different years. This paper applies influence function regressions methods to examine to what extent the rotating panel design of EU-SILC influences the estimates of four social indicators such as income poverty rates or income inequality measures, in other words whether a “rotation group bias” is observed. Our analysis of the 2014 EU-SILC cross-sectional data highlights that estimates of income inequality and poverty rates for newer rotation groups are often higher than for older ones. Individuals interviewed at least twice (and especially those who have been three or more years in the sample) tend to drag the selected social indicators downwards, compared to individuals interviewed for the first time. These impacts remain significant even when accounting for different socio-demographic characteristics of households. Not all countries are affected by the bias however. [less ▲]