(in Polish) Analizy dochodów gospodarstw domowych z wykorzystaniem podatkowo-zasiłkowych modeli mikrosymulacyjnych 2400-ZZSM103B

The goal of the seminar is to prepare students to independently conduct empirical analyses using microdata through tax-and-benefit microsimulation models. The primary tool used during the course is EUROMOD—a model used, among others, by the European Commission to analyze the effects of tax and social policies.

Seminar participants will learn the principles of preparing data for microsimulation analyses, the structure of tax and benefit systems within the model, and methods for designing and simulating reforms. In particular, the seminar will analyze changes related to the taxation of earned income and social benefits, such as changes in tax rates and thresholds, tax credits, eligibility criteria for benefits, and benefit amounts. Students will learn to analyze the impact of such changes on household disposable income, the tax burden, the level of benefits received, and financial incentives to work.

EUROMOD is a European microsimulation model that has been under development since the late 1990s. Until 2021, it was developed by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex. Currently, the model operates within the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission. The model comprises three basic components:
• a tax and benefits calculator containing the coded rules of individual countries’ tax and benefits systems;
• model microdata sets, prepared based, among other sources, on the EU-SILC and HBS surveys;
• documentation describing tax and benefit regulations, as well as country-specific approaches to data preparation and regulatory implementation.

EUROMOD enables both the analysis of actual tax and benefit systems and the conduct of experiments involving changes to selected parameters or system rules. It allows users to compare the situation of households before and after a reform and to distinguish the effects of regulatory changes from those resulting from other factors—such as changes in the data.

The model allows for comparisons of the effects of regulations across countries and over time. Analyses of changes in the tax burden and the generosity of benefits make it possible to identify differences in the fiscal treatment of households with different demographic characteristics. This makes it possible to examine changes in the redistributive role of the state and the progressivity of taxation. International comparisons allow us to identify differences between the policies implemented in individual countries and to assess their consequences for the income situation of various types of households.

Additional EUROMOD modules allow the basic analysis to be expanded to include a statistical presentation of results and an analysis of issues such as marginal tax rates and replacement rates.

The model has been used, among other things, to analyze:
• the redistributive effects of fiscal reforms;
• the response of labor supply to changes in taxes and benefits;
• the use of administrative data to improve the quality of survey data;
• the relationship between social security systems and income inequality;
• the functioning of minimum income systems.