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A social welfare approach for measuring welfare protection

Author

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  • Luis Ayala

    (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)

  • Elena Bárcena-Martín

    (Universidad de Málaga)

Abstract

The measurement of the level of protection provided by minimum income programs has often focused on one of two dimensions: adequacy or coverage. The rankings of regions or countries in terms of the protection provided can be very different depending on the chosen outcome. In this paper, we adopt a social welfare approach for measuring welfare protection looking at the effects of adequacy and coverage on economic welfare. Based on standard assumptions of social welfare functions, we propose a parameterized family of indices that satisfy desirable properties. Our empirical illustration using Spanish data confirms that focusing only on standard measures of adequacy may introduce an important bias, making it difficult to properly identify real differences in terms of social welfare among programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Ayala & Elena Bárcena-Martín, 2018. "A social welfare approach for measuring welfare protection," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(1), pages 41-59, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jecinq:v:16:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s10888-017-9361-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-017-9361-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Luis Ayala Cañón & Ángela Triguero Cano, 2017. "Economic Downturns, Endogenous Government Policy and Welfare Caseloads," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 220(1), pages 107-136, March.
    2. Olivier Bargain & Herwig Immervoll & Heikki Viitamäki, 2012. "No claim, no pain. Measuring the non-take-up of social assistance using register data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(3), pages 375-395, September.
    3. Ravallion, Martin, 2007. "Geographic inequity in a decentralized anti-poverty program : a case study of China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4303, The World Bank.
    4. Stephen Whelan, 2010. "The take-up of means-tested income support," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 847-875, December.
    5. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-1035, December.
    6. Immervoll, Herwig, 2009. "Minimum-Income Benefits in OECD Countries: Policy Design, Effectiveness and Challenges," IZA Discussion Papers 4627, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Moreno, 2019. "Robotization and Welfare Scenarios," Working Papers 1901, Instituto de Políticas y Bienes Públicos (IPP), CSIC.
    2. Luis Ayala & Elena Bárcena-Martín & Jorge Martínez-Vázquez, 2022. "Devolution in the U.S. Welfare Reform: Divergence and Degradation in State Benefits," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 701-726, September.
    3. Francesc Valls Fonayet & Ángel Belzunegui Eraso & Jorge De Andrés Sánchez, 2020. "Efficiency of Social Expenditure Levels in Reducing Poverty Risk in the EU‐28," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 43-62, March.
    4. Adrian Hernandez & Fidel Picos & Sara Riscado, 2020. "Moving towards fairer regional minimum income schemes in Spain," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2020-04, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Luis Ayala & Elena Bárcena-Martín, 2020. "Measuring Social Welfare Gains in Social Assistance Programs: An Application to European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 205-229, August.

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