IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lis/liswps/211.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Effectiveness of Means-tested Transfers in Western Europe: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study

Author

Listed:
  • Christina Behrendt

Abstract

In recent years, the discussion about welfare state reform has often focused on the effectiveness of social security schemes. This debate is torn between calls for more effective poverty alleviation on the one hand and concerns about welfare dependency and the need for stronger targeting of social security benefits on the other. Means-tested benefits have been a major subject in this debate, since they are explicitly directed toward low-income groups. Basically, means-tested benefits are characterized by income and/or asset tests (examples are social assistance or housing benefits in most countries). In spite of the growing concern regarding the effectiveness of means-tested benefits in alleviating poverty, our knowledge on the impact of means-tested benefits remains inadequate. Although a number of studies have assessed the effects of tax and transfer systems as a whole and have provided accounts of the effectiveness of specific social security schemes or the impact of redistribution on specific groups of the population, evidence on the effectiveness of means-tested benefits is still limited. We know astonishingly little about the effects of means-tested transfers on poverty. How effective are they in reducing poverty rates? To what degree can they fill the gap that income redistribution through taxes and non-means-tested social security benefits leaves? How large is the impact of means-tested transfers in private household budgets, and how does the role of means-tested benefits vary across countries? The Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) offers detailed micro-data of private household incomes and facilitates the analysis of the impact of means-tested transfers in a comparative perspective. This paper will explore the potential of these data for assessing the effectiveness of means-tested benefits. Three countries have been chosen for this purpose: Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The evaluation of the effectiveness of means-tested benefits in these countries addresses variations in the effectiveness of means-tested benefits across countries. Can we identify specific patterns in the impact of this kind of benefits? How can we relate these patterns to the institutional settings found in these countries?

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Behrendt, 1999. "Effectiveness of Means-tested Transfers in Western Europe: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 211, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:211
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/211.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Smeeding & Gunther Schmaus & Brigitte Buhmann & Lee Rainwater, 1988. "Equivalence Scales, Well-Being, Inequality and Poverty: Sensitivity Estimates Across Ten Countries Using the LIS Database," LIS Working papers 17, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. repec:bla:econom:v:57:y:1990:i:225:p:119-29 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Brigitte Buhmann & Lee Rainwater & Guenther Schmaus & Timothy M. Smeeding, 1988. "Equivalence Scales, Well‐Being, Inequality, And Poverty: Sensitivity Estimates Across Ten Countries Using The Luxembourg Income Study (Lis) Database," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 34(2), pages 115-142, June.
    4. repec:bla:revinw:v:34:y:1988:i:2:p:115-42 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Eugene Smolensky & Siobhán Reilly & Eirik Evenhouse, 1995. "Should Public Assistance Be Targeted?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 3-28, September.
    6. Richard V. Burkhauser & Timothy M. Smeeding & Joachim Merz, 1996. "Relative Inequality And Poverty In Germany And The United States Using Alternative Equivalence Scales," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 42(4), pages 381-400, December.
    7. Hauser, Richard, 1987. "Comparing the influence of social security systems on the relative economic positions of selected groups in six major industrialized countries : The case of one-parent families," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 192-201.
    8. Sarah Jarvis & Stephen P. Jenkins, 1997. "Low income dynamics in 1990s Britain," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 123-142, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Avram, Silvia, 2013. "Outcomes of social assistance in Central and Eastern Europe: a pre-transfer post-transfer comparison," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-18, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    2. Alfio Cerami, 2003. "The Impact of Social Transfers in Central and Eastern Europe," LIS Working papers 356, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Kenneth Nelson & Tommy Ferrarini, 2002. "The Impact of Taxation on the Equalizing Effect of Social Insurance to Income Inequality: a Comparative Analysis of Ten Welfare States," LIS Working papers 327, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lars Osberg, 2002. "How Much does Work Matter for Inequality? Time, Money and Inequality in International Perspective," LIS Working papers 326, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Christina Behrendt, 2000. "Holes in the Safety Net? Social Security and the Alleviation of Poverty in a Comparative Perspective," LIS Working papers 259, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Elisabetta Ruspini, 1999. "Living on the Poverty Line: A Comparative, Dynamic, Analysis of Lone Mothers' Poverty in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Sweden," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 68(2), pages 262-269.
    4. Regan, Mark & Kakoulidou, Theano, 2022. "How important are the unit of analysis and equivalence scales when measuring income poverty and inequality? Evidence from Ireland," Papers WP721, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    5. Joachim R. Frick & Timothy M. Smeeding & Gert G. Wagner, 1999. "Immigrants in Two Modern Nations: Characteristics of the Foreign and Native Born Populations in Germany and the United States," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 68(2), pages 297-307.
    6. Coral del Río & Javier Ruiz-Castillo, 2001. "TIPs for poverty analysis. The case of Spain, 1980-81 to 1990-91," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 25(1), pages 63-91, January.
    7. Richard V. Burkhauser & Phil Giles & Dean R. Lillard & Johannes Schwarze, 2002. "How Exits from the Labor Force of Death Impact Household Incomes: A Four Country Comparison of Public and Private Income Support," Working Papers wp033, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    8. Cowell, Frank & Litchfield, Julie & Mercader-Prats, Magda, 1999. "Income inequality comparisons with dirty data: the UK and Spain during the 1980s," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 2240, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Hillringhaus, Tilman & Peichl, Andreas, 2010. "Die Messung von Armut unter Berücksichtigung regional divergierender Lebenshaltungskosten und öffentlicher Leistungen," IZA Discussion Papers 5344, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Richard V. Burkhauser & Dean R. Lillard & Paola M. Valenti, 2001. "Long-Term Labor Force Exit and Economic Well-Being: A Cross-National Comparison of Public and Private Income Support," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 70(1), pages 146-152.
    11. Mysikova, Martina & Zelinsky, Tomas, 2019. "On the Measurement of the Income Poverty Rate: the Equivalence Scale across Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 99(4), pages 383-397.
    12. Regier, Gregory & Zereyesus, Yacob & Dalton, Timothy & Amanor-Boadu, Vincent, 2015. "Do Adult Equivalence Scales Matter in Poverty Estimates? A Ghana Case Study," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212487, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Christina Behrendt, 2000. "Is There Income Poverty in Western Europe? Methodological Pitfalls in the Measurement of Poverty in a Comparative Perspective," LIS Working papers 258, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. Paul Makdissi & Quentin Wodon, 2004. "Migration, poverty, and housing in Honduras," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 31(1 Year 20), pages 5-20, June.
    15. Elisabetta Ruspini, 1997. "Gender Differences in Poverty and its Duration: An Analysis of Germany and Great Britain," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 66(1), pages 87-91.
    16. Lee Rainwater & Timothy Smeeding, 2002. "Comparing Living Standards Across Nations: Real Incomes at the Top, the Bottom and the Middle," LIS Working papers 266, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    17. Christian Dudel & Jan Marvin Garbuszus & Julian Schmied, 2021. "Assessing differences in household needs: a comparison of approaches for the estimation of equivalence scales using German expenditure data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1629-1659, April.
    18. Christos Koulovatianos & Carsten Schröder, 2023. "Income-dependent equivalence scales and choice theory: implications for poverty measurement," Chapters, in: Jacques Silber (ed.), Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, chapter 4, pages 39-49, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Georges Heinrich, 1998. "Changing Times, Testing Times: A Bootstrap Analysis of Poverty and Inequality using the PACO Database," CERT Discussion Papers 9802, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University.
    20. Stefan Kranzinger, 2020. "The decomposition of income inequality in the EU-28," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 643-668, August.

    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:lis:liswps:211. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Piotr Paradowski (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lisprlu.html .

    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.