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The role of automatic stabilizers and emergency tax–benefit policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: evidence from Ecuador

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  • Jara, H. Xavier
  • Montesdeoca, Lourdes
  • Tasseva, Iva

Abstract

By combining household survey data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic with detailed tax-benefit simulations, this paper quantifies the distributional effects of COVID-19 in Ecuador and the role of tax–benefit policies in mitigating the immediate impact of the economic shocks. Our results show a dramatic increase in income poverty and inequality between December 2019 and June 2020, the period when the economy was hit the hardest. The national poverty headcount increases from 25.7 to 58.2%, the extreme poverty headcount from 9.2 to 38.6%, and the Gini coefficient from 0.461 to 0.592. On average, household disposable income drops by 41%. The new Family Protection Grant provides income protection for the poorest income decile. However, overall tax–benefit policies do little to mitigate the losses in household incomes due to the pandemic. Informal workers, in particular, are left unprotected due to the lack of income support in the event of unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jara, H. Xavier & Montesdeoca, Lourdes & Tasseva, Iva, 2022. "The role of automatic stabilizers and emergency tax–benefit policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: evidence from Ecuador," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112738, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:112738
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    1. Olivier Bargain & Tim Callan, 2010. "Analysing the effects of tax-benefit reforms on income distribution: a decomposition approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Mike Brewer & Iva Valentinova Tasseva, 2021. "Did the UK policy response to Covid-19 protect household incomes?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 433-458, September.
    3. Nicolas Bottan & Bridget Hoffmann & Diego Vera-Cossio, 2020. "The unequal impact of the coronavirus pandemic: Evidence from seventeen developing countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-10, October.
    4. André Decoster & Jukka Pirttilä & Holly Sutherland & Gemma Wright, 2019. "SOUTHMOD: Modelling Tax-benefit Systems in Developing Countries," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12.
    5. Doorley, Karina & Regan, Mark & Beirne, Keelan & Roantree, Barra & Tuda, Dora, 2020. "The potential costs and distributional effect of Covid-19 related unemployment in Ireland," EUROMOD Working Papers EM5/20, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Emilio Espino & Martín González Rozada, 2012. "Automatic Stabilization and Fiscal Policy: Some Quantitative Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 78038, Inter-American Development Bank.
    7. Espino, Emilio & González Rozada, Martín, 2012. "Automatic Stabilization and Fiscal Policy: Some Quantitative Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4130, Inter-American Development Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jara, H. Xavier & Rodríguez, David & Collado, Diego & Torres, Javier & Mideros, Andrés & Montesdeoca, Lourdes & Avellaneda, Andrés & Chang, Rodrigo & Vanegas, Omar, 2025. "Assessing the role of tax-benefit policies during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the Andean region," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123701, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Gasior, Katrin & Jara, H. Xavier & Makovec, Mattia, 2024. "Assessing the effectiveness of social protection measures in mitigating COVID-19-related income shocks in the European union," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 583-605.
    3. Geoff Goodwin, 2024. "Uneven decommodification geographies: Exploring variation across the centre and periphery," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(3), pages 883-904, May.
    4. Meltem A. Aran & Nazli Aktakke & Zehra Sena Kibar & Emre Üçkardeşler, 2022. "How to Assess the Child Poverty and Distributional Impact of COVID-19 Using Household Budget Surveys: An Application Using Turkish Data," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(4), pages 1997-2037, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; Ecuador; inequality; microsimulation; poverty; coronavirus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

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