Bucciol A., Cavalli L., Fedotenkov I., Pertile P., Polin V., Sartor N., Sommacal A. (2015)

Public policies over the life cycle: a large scale OLG model for France, Italy and Sweden. Netspar Discussion Paper No. 12/2015-041.

Abstract:

The paper presents a large scale overlapping generation model with heterogeneous agents, where the family is the decision unit. We calibrate the model for three European countries – France, Italy and Sweden – which show marked differences in the design of some public

programs. We examine the properties in terms of annual and lifetime redistribution of a number of tax-benefit programs, by studying the impact of removing from our model economies some or all of them. We find that whether one considers a life-cycle or an annual horizon, and whether behavioral responses are accounted for or not, has a large impact on the results. The model may provide useful insights for policy makers on which kind of reforms are more likely to achieve specific equity objectives.