IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/intssr/v65y2012i3p27-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The redistributive effect of social transfer programmes and taxes: A decomposition across countries

Author

Listed:
  • Chen Wang
  • Koen Caminada
  • Kees Goudswaard

Abstract

The aim of this article is to offer detailed information of the redistributive impact of social transfer programmes and taxes in 28 Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, employing data that have been computed from the Luxembourg Income Study's micro‐level database. We find that welfare states on average reduce inequality by 35 per cent. Social benefits have a much stronger redistributive impact than taxes. As far as social programmes are concerned, public pensions account for the largest reduction in income inequality, although the pattern is diverse across countries. To a lesser extent, social assistance, disability and family benefits also contribute to smaller income disparities.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen Wang & Koen Caminada & Kees Goudswaard, 2012. "The redistributive effect of social transfer programmes and taxes: A decomposition across countries," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(3), pages 27-48, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:intssr:v:65:y:2012:i:3:p:27-48
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-246X.2012.01435.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-246X.2012.01435.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-246X.2012.01435.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Emile Cammeraat, 2020. "The relationship between different social expenditure schemes and poverty, inequality and economic growth," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(2), pages 101-123, April.
    2. Nanak Kakwani & Xiaobing Wang & Jing Xu & Ximing Yue, 2021. "Assessing the Social Welfare Effects of Government Transfer Programs: Some International Comparisons☆," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(4), pages 1005-1028, December.
    3. Kornek, Ulrike & Klenert, David & Edenhofer, Ottmar & Fleurbaey, Marc, 2021. "The social cost of carbon and inequality: When local redistribution shapes global carbon prices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Nikola Šubová, 2023. "Komparácia krajín EÚ na základe nástrojov sociálnej politiky na zmiernenie finančnej zraniteľnosti domácností [Comparison of EU Countries Based on Social Policy Instruments to Mitigate Financial Vu," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2023(1), pages 23-45.
    5. Miranda-Lescano, Ronald & Muinelo-Gallo, Leonel & Roca-Sagales, Oriol, 2024. "Human development and inequalities: The importance of social public spending," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 363-377.
    6. Elvire Guillaud & Matthew Olckers & Michaël Zemmour, 2020. "Four Levers of Redistribution: The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Inequality Reduction," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 444-466, June.
    7. Tausch, Arno, 2015. "Wo Frau Kanzlerin Angela Merkel irrt: Der Sozialschutz in der Welt, der Anteil Europas und die Beurteilung seiner Effizienz [Where Chancellor Angela Merkel got it wrong: social protection in the wo," MPRA Paper 66462, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Muinelo-Gallo, Leonel, 2022. "Business cycles and redistribution: The role of government quality," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).
    9. Leonel Muinelo‐Gallo & Ronald Miranda Lescano, 2022. "Redistribution and efficiency: An empirical analysis of the relevant trade‐offs of welfare state fiscal policies," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 562-586, February.
    10. Lucas Menescal, 2024. "Breaking down inequality: Can taxes be the great equalizer?," Working Papers REM 2024/0328, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:intssr:v:65:y:2012:i:3:p:27-48. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1865-1674 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.