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Inflation, Fiscal Policy and Inequality

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This paper analyses the distributional impact of high consumer inflation in the euro area and government measures to compensate households in 2022. The study uses the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union (EUROMOD) with microdata as the input – EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) and household budget surveys (HBS) – to quantify the distributional impact of inflation, income support measures and measures aimed at containing prices. The analysis confirms that purchasing power and welfare were more severely affected by the 2022 inflation surge in lower-income households than in higher-income households. Fiscal measures compensated households for about a third of their welfare loss, though with significant differences between countries. At the same time, fiscal measures closed around 60% of the inequality gap between lower and higher-income households. Most fiscal measures were not particularly well targeted at low-income households, resulting in a higher than necessary fiscal burden to cushion the distributional impact of the inflationary shock.

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  • AMORES Antonio F. & BASSO Henrique & BISCHL Simeon & DE AGOSTINI Paola & DE POLI Silvia & DICARLO Emmanuele & FLEVOTOMOU Maria & FREIER Max & MAIER Sofia & GARCÍA-MIRALLES Esteban & PIDKUYKO Myroslav , 2023. "Inflation, Fiscal Policy and Inequality," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2023-10, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:taxref:202310
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    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC135517
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    Cited by:

    1. Sologon, Denisa Maria & Doorley, Karina & O'Donoghue, Cathal, 2024. "Gender Disparities in Inflation during the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Europe: A Novel Decomposition," IZA Discussion Papers 16860, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Cathal O'Donoghue & Beenish Amjad & Jules Linden & Nora Lustig & Denisa Sologon & Yang Wang, 2025. "The Distributional Impact of Inflation in Pakistan: A Case Study of a New Price Focused Microsimulation Framework, PRICES," Working Papers 679, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Cathal O'Donoghue & Beenish Amjad & Jules Linden & Nora Lustig & Denisa Sologon & Yang Wang, 2025. "The Distributional Impact of Inflation in Pakistan: A Case Study of a New Price Focused Microsimulation Framework, PRICES," Working Papers 2501, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    4. Sara Riscado & Sharmin Sazedj & Lara Wemans, 2024. "The personal income tax in Portugal: from the sovereign debt crisis to the inflationary shock," Economic Bulletin and Financial Stability Report Articles and Banco de Portugal Economic Studies, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    5. Pallotti, Filippo & Paz-Pardo, Gonzalo & Slacalek, Jiri & Tristani, Oreste & Violante, Giovanni L., 2024. "Who bears the costs of inflation? Euro area households and the 2021–2023 shock," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(S).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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