Income redistribution in Estonia (original) (raw)
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A Demographic Analysis of Income Distribution in Estonia*
Comparative Economic Studies, 1999
This paper identifies the head ofhousehold demographic characteristics associated with the Estonian distribution ofincome. Using measures of income inequality and regression analysis on 1995 household data, we examine how household income is distributed by the age, gender, race, and education level of the heads of household The Gini coefficient estimates indicate that the household incomes associated withfemale and elderly heads have an equalizing effect. Households headed by younger males or those who are educated contribute to greater income disparity. The regression analysis confirms these results and suggests that social transfers for households headed by women, the disabled, and the elderly, have an equalizing effect on the income distribution. We also find that farm households appear to lag far behind their urban counterparts in earnings and income.
Social Transfers and Social Assistance: An Empirical Analysis Using Latvian Household Survey Data
Policy Research Working Papers, 1999
Milanovic assesses the performance of Latvia's system of households (only 1.5 percent of all households receive it) social transfers, in three ways: but among those that do receive it, it represents a First, he analyzes the incidence (who receives transfers) relatively high share (20 percent) of income. Households of pensions, family allowances, unemployment benefits, that are systematically "discriminated against" in the and social assistance. Per capita analysis shows pensions allocation of social assistance are urban households living tending to be pro-rich and families allowances pro-poor outside the capital (Riga) and those headed by male (a finding typical in poverty analyses). Introducing an adults. equivalence scalc alters the results and shows all Third, he looks at the regional allocation of social individual cash transfers performing about the same: assistance. The results confirm earlier findings of large mildly pro-poor. horizontal inequalitiesthat people with the same Next, he examines the performance of social income from different parts of the country are treated assistance, which is, by definition, directed to the poor. unequally, because the existing system is based on local He shows that Latvia's current system is concentrated-financing of social assistance. meaning that social assistance is disbursed to few This papera product of Poverty and Human Resources, Development Research Groupis part of the Latvia Poverty
Different Cohorts and Evaluation of Income Differences in Estonia
International Sociology, 2008
The article addresses three main research questions. (1) What attitudes do people entertain in post-socialist Estonia with regard to income inequality? (2) Do the unique formative experiences of different birth cohorts become imprinted in values, making them distinctively different in their evaluations of income inequalities, or do people from different cohorts adapt to changes and are they becoming more similar? (3) Are there any differences in the impact of various individual-level characteristics on the attitudes to inequality of different cohorts? In order to answer these questions, this article compares five birth cohorts with different socialization experiences. The analysis is based on data from the International Social Justice Project of 1991 and 1996 and from the Estonian Social Justice Survey carried out in 2004. The analysis indicates a time-dependent and increasing effect of cohort on attitudes towards income inequality. The cohort effect on the perception and appraisal ...
Social Consequences of Transition: Who Recognize Themselves To Be Poor in Estonia?
Eesti Social protection systems in the Baltic States, 2003
Under the former central planning regime Estonia like the other post-socialist countries was characterized by more egalitarian income distribution than western market economies. This situation has changed dramatically after the onset of transition; as a consequence the income inequality has ...
Income Redistribution in Iceland: Development and European Comparisons
European Journal of Social Security, 2011
This article explores income redistribution in Iceland stemming from taxes and transfers, both in terms of its development (1995-2009) and in comparison with European countries (2007). This is done by applying various decomposition analyses, mostly based on the reduction in the Gini coefficient due to taxes and transfers. Our results show that redistribution declined substantially in Iceland between 1995 and 2007; two thirds of the reduction was due to the tax system. The reduction in tax redistribution is explained by a decrease in the personal tax allowance and changed income composition. In a comparison of western European countries in 2007, redistribution stemming from taxes and transfers was lowest in Iceland. This may be explained by low progressivity in the tax system and very low transfer payments, which may to a large extent be explained by high employment rates. In an international comparison, Scandinavian and Continental European countries have the highest levels of redistribution. For the Continental countries, this is to a large extent due to low employment rates, while in the Scandinavian countries it is due to high distributional policies.
Redistribution and the alleviation of income inequalities: the case of the European Union
Ekonomia i Prawo, 2020
Motivation: The income inequalities are considered an important economic and social problem, because increasing income inequalities may make it difficult to achieve such policy goals as: social cohesion and inclusive development. State's interference through redistribution is aimed to decrease the differences between the rich and poor. Even though social transfers alleviate the income inequalities, the extent to which they decrease the gap between the rich and the poor is different in European Union (EU) countries. The answer to the question of redistribution effectiveness is extremely important from this perspective. Aim: The article aims to present the diversity of EU countries from the perspective of income inequalities, social transfers (government expenditures on social protection, health and education) and finally redistribution. Its aim is also to assess the impact of social transfers on inequalities on the basis of dynamic panel data model. Results: There is no significant relationship between the level of social transfers and Gini disposable income. However, the results of regression analysis proved that government expenditures on social protection significantly increase the difference between market and disposable income inequalities (Gini gap) and therefore more effectively decrease income inequalities.
International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011
This paper analyzes Estonian households' perception of welfare, including the determinants and dynamics of said perception under transition. Data from the Estonian Household Income and Expenditures Survey 2000 and 2001 are used to construct samples. Ordered probit and linear regression models are employed to investigate the determinants of the self-assessed economic situations and income levels as determined to be necessary by households for conducting normal life. The income level perceived by households as necessary to conduct normal life is found to vary substantially depending on a given households actual income and other extant household characteristics. This indicates that factors other than income per capita alone are relevant for understanding households welfare and their perception of normal life, and, hence, should be among the targets of social policy and factored into the development strategies of Estonias social protection system.
Income Redistribution and Socio-economic Development
Review of Economic Perspectives, 2014
The trade off efficiency and equity issue, which is represented by income redistribution, becomes increasingly debated not only in economic and social, but also in political dimension. Solution of this trade-off problem is projected into the implementation of social policy and results achieved in macroeconomics policy, with the goal to define the optimal scope and character of the income redistribution processes. The submitted empirical study responds to this problem through the investigation of research question focused on the existence of a relationship between the social protection expenditure (expenditure on policy of family, old age and unemployment) and the achieved level of socio-economic development (quantified by Human Development Index HDI). The existence of this relationship is statistically tested in a sample of 15 countries. The research sample is heterogeneous in relation to the analyzed indicators, and it contains countries with a different level of economics developm...
The Effects of the New Welfare System on the Inter-and Intra-Class Distribution of Income in Turkey
2013
The outcomes of the neoliberal experiences have paved the way for increasing literature on income distribution. Most of the studies in this tide provide significant and abundant evidence confirming worsening income distribution. However, very few studies use a class-based framework. The basic aim of this study is to examine the effects of changing public transfer policy of government (2002-2010) in Turkey on the intra-and inter-class income distribution. In this context, this study employs the Household Budget Surveys which have been annually conducted since 2002. The dataset from each survey covers three sub-datasets: individual level, households level and consumption datasets. First, using individual level data set, we determine the class status of each individual. Then, using this information, the class identities of households are derived. The theoretical background of this derivation process is mostly Marxian, however it incorporates Weberian themes. The results show that rapid and massive increase in the size of the labouring classes and parallel erosion in the ranks of peasantry and petite bourgeoisie have significant effects upon income distribution. Consequently, a Gini decomposition technique is used to analyze the change in inter and intra-class income distribution. In the first half of the period, the Gini coefficient decreased while it rose in the second half. The decomposition technique is also employed to find out the impacts of the new welfare regime upon both inter-and intra-class income distribution. This new welfare regime rests upon selective, infrequent and discretionary provisioning of public transfers. In this context, it is the negation of former welfare regime which has been dismantled by insistent and consecutive neoliberal reforms. The former welfare regime had risen over the non-selective, constitutionally guaranteed and rule-based public transfer mechanism. Moreover, in the period under scrutiny, the share and level of private transfers especially to the lower echelons of society has been increasing. The main sources of these transfers are private and autonomous foundations and charity organizations. However, official figures and the balance sheets of these organizations show that most of the income for these foundations and organizations are also transfers from central government budget. Therefore, it is not untenable to accept these transfers as also public transfers. The results of our analysis show that the new welfare regime arising over the selective public transfer mechanism has been used to limit the rise in inequality between social classes. Moreover, especially for the labouring classes and peasantry, public transfers have an equalizing effect.
Modeling the impact of social transfers on the inequality of income distribution in society
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Strategies, Models and Technologies of Economic Systems Management (SMTESM 2019), 2019
The impact of social transfers on income inequality in society is analyzed. The role of social transfers in redistributing income and reducing the level of differentiation of society is revealed. The choice of the total income components for all types of social transfers is substantiated. An algorithm for applying the Gini-Taylor coefficient to decompose inequalities by components of total income is constructed. The decomposition of the Gini-Tyla coefficient into components by source of income is performed. Concentration ratios, absolute and relative contributions were calculated for the 11 selected income components based on the total household income of Ukraine in 2018. Ways of improvement of social protection of the population with the purpose of overcoming inequality of distribution of incomes in a society are offered. When modeling the impact of different types of social transfers on income inequality in society, an effective method is to use the decomposition of the Gini coeff...