Working papers - academic research on economy aimed at enhancing the knowledge about economic processes, problems and trends through development of new theories and concepts. The results of these studies are published in leading international journals, as for example SAGE Knowledge, Journal of Economic Development, Research Policy (Science Direct), Baltic Journal of Economics, Eastern Economic Journal and etc.
Commitment To Equity For Children: Redistributive Effects And Efficiency Of Social Assistance To Households With Children In Belarus
This paper seeks to inform the understanding of the distributional impact of taxes and public spending on children in Belarus.
Poverty, Vulnerability, and Household Coping Strategies during the 2015–16 Recession in Belarus
This paper examines the impact of the recent recession in Belarus on poverty and broader measures of household welfare and compares the recent recession episode to previous economic crises in Belarus.
15.11.2017
Determinants of poverty with and without economic growth. Explaining Belarus's poverty dynamics during 2009-2016
This paper studies the incidence and determinants of poverty in Belarus using data from yearly Household Budget Surveys for 2009-2016. The poverty is evaluated from consumption perspective applying the cost of basic needs approach and using food and absolute poverty lines. During last two years, absolute poverty in Belarus has increased twofold and reached 29% of the population.
Fiscal Incidence in Belarus: A Commitment to Equity Analysis
The paper employs the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) framework to present a first attempt at a comprehensive fiscal incidence analysis for Belarus, encompassing both the revenue and expenditures components of the fiscal system, including direct and indirect taxes, as well as direct, indirect and in-kind transfers. The analysis reveals that fiscal policies in Belarus effectively redistribute income from the top to the bottom of the income distribution. Direct transfers, in particular pensions, are the most equalizing and pro-poor of the fiscal interventions – direct transfers and direct taxes lower the national poverty headcount by 17 percentage points and lower the Gini index of inequality from 0.407 to 0.267. Some of the indirect taxes, on the other hand, are regressive, and indirect transfers – poorly targeted, such that the effect of these components of the fiscal system is not equalizing. Finally, the cost-efficiency of different parts of the fiscal system in Belarus varies considerably. Unemployment benefits, pensions and child benefits are found to be cost-efficient, while indirect subsidies are highly cost-inefficient. The analysis points towards possible reforms that would allow to reduce poverty and inequality more efficiently.
Aleksandr Vashchilko| 08.04.2015
Households' Expenditure Patterns in Belarus
This study estimates the equivalence scale for Belarus, while directly accounting for household size economies of scale. For this purposes, the modication of methodology in Lancaster and Ray (1998) was used. The poverty levels for vulnerable social groups are estimated using the house holds equivalized total expenditures. In addition, the comparison of Engel curves for several expenditure categories is conducted for different years.