André Decoster | KU Leuven (original) (raw)
Papers by André Decoster
... ISBN 978 90 5867 797 6 D/ 2010 / 1869 / 56 NUR: 780 Ontwerp: PaulVerrept Realisatie: JurgenLe... more ... ISBN 978 90 5867 797 6 D/ 2010 / 1869 / 56 NUR: 780 Ontwerp: PaulVerrept Realisatie: JurgenLeemans Page 6. ... Het ontwerp van het boek is van de hand van Paul Verrept van de Compagnie Verrept en de opmaak werd verzorgd door Jurgen Leemans. ...
The adverse distributional effects of a flat tax are well known and have been documented by empir... more The adverse distributional effects of a flat tax are well known and have been documented by empirical research in several countries, including Belgium. Advocates of the flat tax argue, correctly, that many of these studies do not take into account agents behavioural reactions and possible feed back effects. One of the important effects in this context is the potential increase
The role of indirect taxes in social policy is investigated by 1) comparing the distributional pa... more The role of indirect taxes in social policy is investigated by 1) comparing the distributional pattern of indirect taxes with the one of personal income taxes and social security contributions; 2) calculating the indirect tax liabilities for recipients of social benefits; 3) assessing the distributional impact of shifting the financing of social security from contributions to indirect taxes. For this
In this paper we investigate the evolution of the inequality in well-being across dierent countri... more In this paper we investigate the evolution of the inequality in well-being across dierent countries between 1975 and 2000. We treat well-being as a multidimensional concept focusing on three important dimensions of life: standard of living, health and education. Inequality in the three di- mensions shows a dierent trend between 1975 and 2000. We propose a ‡exible measure of well-being
We revisit the well-known decomposition of the Gini coefficient into betweengroups, within-groups... more We revisit the well-known decomposition of the Gini coefficient into betweengroups, within-groups and overlap terms in the context of two groups in which the incomes in one group may be scaled and that group’s population weight modified. In this more general setting than usual, we focus on the properties of the overlap term, proving inter alia that overlap unambiguously reduces
To take into account heterogeneity in a social welfare function, Ebert (1997) and Shorrocks (1995... more To take into account heterogeneity in a social welfare function, Ebert (1997) and Shorrocks (1995) show that the only consistent way of welfare measurement consists of either constructing an artificial distribution in which each household is weighted by the number of equivalent individuals, or weighting by the number of individuals in the household. Both approaches are not only mutually exclusive
Dans cet article nous appliquons la théorie de la réforme fiscale pour obtenir des résultats empi... more Dans cet article nous appliquons la théorie de la réforme fiscale pour obtenir des résultats empiriques à propos de la structure des taxes indirectes en Belgique. Nous centrons notre attention sur l'arbitrage entre équité et efficacité et tentons de formuler des conclusions ...
Physical Review A, 1991
We have used time-resolved 2p-3d absorption spectroscopy to probe the ionization degree of a germ... more We have used time-resolved 2p-3d absorption spectroscopy to probe the ionization degree of a germanium plasma heated by the soft x rays emitted from the rear side of laser-irradiated gold targets. We have determined the average ionization degree and the distribution of ion stages as a function of time during the expanding, cooling phase of the plasma. They have been
Pulses of 20 TW have been generated at 1064 nm using the chirped pulse amplification technique co... more Pulses of 20 TW have been generated at 1064 nm using the chirped pulse amplification technique coupled to a 90 mm output aperture Nd–silicate glass amplification line. The chirped pulses are compressed to 1.2 psec with an energy of 24 J using large holographic gold-coated 1740 lines/mm diffraction gratings. In a first step, the beam is focused by an aspherical
Physical Review A, 1990
Amplification of soft x rays in Sr ({ital Z}=38) plasmas produced by second-harmonic laser irradi... more Amplification of soft x rays in Sr ({ital Z}=38) plasmas produced by second-harmonic laser irradiation of exploding foil targets is studied. Gains of 4.4 and 4.0 cmâ»Â¹, respectively, have been measured for the 164.1- and 166.5-A {ital J}=2 to 1 transitions in Ne-like Sr at laser intensities of 1.3Ã10¹ⴠW/cm². Numerous x-ray and soft-x-ray transitions were identified in order to
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We gebruiken een rekenmodel voor de personenbelasting om de gevolgen uit te rekenen van het voors... more We gebruiken een rekenmodel voor de personenbelasting om de gevolgen uit te rekenen van het voorstel voor een geregionaliseerde personenbelasting in de nota De Wever. Het rekenmodel verschilt van alle tot nu toe geproduceerde berekeningen omdat het de belasting uitrekent voor elk Vlaams, Waals en Brussels gezin in een representatieve steekproef. Dat laat toe de effecten van progressiviteit echt in
Assessing the price evolution of houses on the basis of average sales prices, as is current pract... more Assessing the price evolution of houses on the basis of average sales prices, as is current practice in Belgium, might be misleading due to changing characteristics of the houses sold in the periods observed. A hedonic index which takes into account changes in characteristics is more appropriate. We use the budget surveys of the Belgian Statistical Institute to illustrate how this also applies for Belgium. The estimated hedonic price index for house sales on the secondary market is practically always below the index based on average sales values for the period considered. This demonstrates the need to collect more extensive data on the characteristics of the dwellings sold in Belgium.
In this paper we investigate the progressivity impact of various components of the Belgian person... more In this paper we investigate the progressivity impact of various components of the Belgian personal income tax system, before and after a major reform of this system. The reform reduced the top tax rates, broadened the tax base and increased tax credits. We show that, contrary to the opinion, commonly expressed in public debates, the reform did not reduce aggregate
... ISBN 978 90 5867 797 6 D/ 2010 / 1869 / 56 NUR: 780 Ontwerp: PaulVerrept Realisatie: JurgenLe... more ... ISBN 978 90 5867 797 6 D/ 2010 / 1869 / 56 NUR: 780 Ontwerp: PaulVerrept Realisatie: JurgenLeemans Page 6. ... Het ontwerp van het boek is van de hand van Paul Verrept van de Compagnie Verrept en de opmaak werd verzorgd door Jurgen Leemans. ...
The adverse distributional effects of a flat tax are well known and have been documented by empir... more The adverse distributional effects of a flat tax are well known and have been documented by empirical research in several countries, including Belgium. Advocates of the flat tax argue, correctly, that many of these studies do not take into account agents behavioural reactions and possible feed back effects. One of the important effects in this context is the potential increase
The role of indirect taxes in social policy is investigated by 1) comparing the distributional pa... more The role of indirect taxes in social policy is investigated by 1) comparing the distributional pattern of indirect taxes with the one of personal income taxes and social security contributions; 2) calculating the indirect tax liabilities for recipients of social benefits; 3) assessing the distributional impact of shifting the financing of social security from contributions to indirect taxes. For this
In this paper we investigate the evolution of the inequality in well-being across dierent countri... more In this paper we investigate the evolution of the inequality in well-being across dierent countries between 1975 and 2000. We treat well-being as a multidimensional concept focusing on three important dimensions of life: standard of living, health and education. Inequality in the three di- mensions shows a dierent trend between 1975 and 2000. We propose a ‡exible measure of well-being
We revisit the well-known decomposition of the Gini coefficient into betweengroups, within-groups... more We revisit the well-known decomposition of the Gini coefficient into betweengroups, within-groups and overlap terms in the context of two groups in which the incomes in one group may be scaled and that group’s population weight modified. In this more general setting than usual, we focus on the properties of the overlap term, proving inter alia that overlap unambiguously reduces
To take into account heterogeneity in a social welfare function, Ebert (1997) and Shorrocks (1995... more To take into account heterogeneity in a social welfare function, Ebert (1997) and Shorrocks (1995) show that the only consistent way of welfare measurement consists of either constructing an artificial distribution in which each household is weighted by the number of equivalent individuals, or weighting by the number of individuals in the household. Both approaches are not only mutually exclusive
Dans cet article nous appliquons la théorie de la réforme fiscale pour obtenir des résultats empi... more Dans cet article nous appliquons la théorie de la réforme fiscale pour obtenir des résultats empiriques à propos de la structure des taxes indirectes en Belgique. Nous centrons notre attention sur l'arbitrage entre équité et efficacité et tentons de formuler des conclusions ...
Physical Review A, 1991
We have used time-resolved 2p-3d absorption spectroscopy to probe the ionization degree of a germ... more We have used time-resolved 2p-3d absorption spectroscopy to probe the ionization degree of a germanium plasma heated by the soft x rays emitted from the rear side of laser-irradiated gold targets. We have determined the average ionization degree and the distribution of ion stages as a function of time during the expanding, cooling phase of the plasma. They have been
Pulses of 20 TW have been generated at 1064 nm using the chirped pulse amplification technique co... more Pulses of 20 TW have been generated at 1064 nm using the chirped pulse amplification technique coupled to a 90 mm output aperture Nd–silicate glass amplification line. The chirped pulses are compressed to 1.2 psec with an energy of 24 J using large holographic gold-coated 1740 lines/mm diffraction gratings. In a first step, the beam is focused by an aspherical
Physical Review A, 1990
Amplification of soft x rays in Sr ({ital Z}=38) plasmas produced by second-harmonic laser irradi... more Amplification of soft x rays in Sr ({ital Z}=38) plasmas produced by second-harmonic laser irradiation of exploding foil targets is studied. Gains of 4.4 and 4.0 cmâ»Â¹, respectively, have been measured for the 164.1- and 166.5-A {ital J}=2 to 1 transitions in Ne-like Sr at laser intensities of 1.3Ã10¹ⴠW/cm². Numerous x-ray and soft-x-ray transitions were identified in order to
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We gebruiken een rekenmodel voor de personenbelasting om de gevolgen uit te rekenen van het voors... more We gebruiken een rekenmodel voor de personenbelasting om de gevolgen uit te rekenen van het voorstel voor een geregionaliseerde personenbelasting in de nota De Wever. Het rekenmodel verschilt van alle tot nu toe geproduceerde berekeningen omdat het de belasting uitrekent voor elk Vlaams, Waals en Brussels gezin in een representatieve steekproef. Dat laat toe de effecten van progressiviteit echt in
Assessing the price evolution of houses on the basis of average sales prices, as is current pract... more Assessing the price evolution of houses on the basis of average sales prices, as is current practice in Belgium, might be misleading due to changing characteristics of the houses sold in the periods observed. A hedonic index which takes into account changes in characteristics is more appropriate. We use the budget surveys of the Belgian Statistical Institute to illustrate how this also applies for Belgium. The estimated hedonic price index for house sales on the secondary market is practically always below the index based on average sales values for the period considered. This demonstrates the need to collect more extensive data on the characteristics of the dwellings sold in Belgium.
In this paper we investigate the progressivity impact of various components of the Belgian person... more In this paper we investigate the progressivity impact of various components of the Belgian personal income tax system, before and after a major reform of this system. The reform reduced the top tax rates, broadened the tax base and increased tax credits. We show that, contrary to the opinion, commonly expressed in public debates, the reform did not reduce aggregate