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Europe > Iceland

You are looking at 1 - 5 of 5 items for :

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Cover Departmental Papers
Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America
Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan
,
Sandra Lizarazo
,
Marika Santoro
,
Mr. Frederik G Toscani
, and
Mr. Mauricio Vargas
Over the past decades, inequality has risen not just in advanced economies but also in many emerging market and developing economies, becoming one of the key global policy challenges. And throughout the 20th century, Latin America was associated with some of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Yet something interesting happened in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Latin America was the only region in the World to have experienced significant declines in inequality in that period. Poverty also fell in Latin America, although this was replicated in other regions, and Latin America started from a relatively low base. Starting around 2014, however, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, poverty and inequality gains had already slowed in Latin America and, in some cases, gone into reverse. And the COVID-19 shock, which is still playing out, is likely to dramatically worsen short-term poverty and inequality dynamics. Against this background, this departmental paper investigates the link between commodity prices, and poverty and inequality developments in Latin America.
Keywords:
latin America; Commodity Cycles; Inequality; Poverty; Equilibrium Models; commodity exporter; commodity cycle; IMF staff calculation; commodity price boom; natural resource; commodity endowment; Headcount ratio; poverty in Latin America; Income inequality; Income; Income distribution; South America; Central America; Western Hemisphere; Caribbean
Cover IEO Evaluation Report
IEO Evaluation Report
The IMF and Social Protection
International Monetary Fund. Independent Evaluation Office

Abstract

This paper analyzes that the IMF has moved beyond its traditional fiscal-centric approach to recognize that social protection can also be macro-critical for broader reasons including social and political stability concerns. Evaluating the IMF’s involvement in social protection is complicated by the fact that there is no standard definition of social protection or of broader/overlapping terms such as social spending and social safeguards in (or outside) the IMF. In this evaluation, social protection is understood to include policies that provide benefits to vulnerable individuals or households. This evaluation found widespread IMF involvement in social protection across countries although the extent of engagement varied. In some cases, engagement was relatively deep, spanning different activities (bilateral surveillance, technical assistance, and/or programs) and involving detailed analysis of distributional impacts, discussion of policy options, active advocacy of social protection, and integration of social protection measures in program design and/or conditionality. This cross-country variation to some degree reflected an appropriate response to country-specific factors, in particular an assessment of whether social protection policy was macrocritical, and the availability of expertise from development partners or in the country itself.

Keywords:
IEOR; IEO; protection; staff; evaluation; policy; country; IMF staff; social protection; core area; IMF-ILO stocktaking; protection policy; IMF's mandate; Social assistance spending; Social protection spending; Pension reform; Energy subsidies; Global; Africa; Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Iceland: Technical Assistance Report-Optimal Reform and Distributional Analysis of the Personal Income Tax
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This paper discusses key findings and recommendations of the Technical Assistance Report on Optimal Reform and Distributional Analysis of the Personal Income Tax (PIT). With regard to reforming the PIT schedule, it recommends that the basic credit be increased and made fully refundable to all taxpayers age 18 and older. To avoid paying this benefit to young singles, such as students, who generally have other means of support, it could be conditioned on a certain level of labor earnings. This credit should be rapidly phased out as labor income rises, and the initial PIT rate should be significantly reduced. The current top PIT rate does not need reform, although the threshold for that rate should ideally be raised.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; per capita income; taxable income; gross income; guaranteed annual income; household income; phase-out rate; reform proposal; tax burden; income tax; central government; government reform; Personal income; Personal income tax; Marginal effective tax rate; Income tax systems; Income distribution
Cover IMF Working Papers
Distributional Consequences of Fiscal Consolidation and the Role of Fiscal Policy: What Do the Data Say?
Jaejoon Woo
,
Ms. Elva Bova
,
Mr. Tidiane Kinda
, and
Ms. Yuanyan S Zhang
The 2007-09 Great Recession has led to an unprecedented increase in public debt in many countries, triggering substantial fiscal adjustments. What are the distributional consequences of fiscal austerity measures? This is an important policy question. This paper analyzes the effects of fiscal policies on income inequality in a panel of advanced and emerging market economies over the last three decades, complemented by a case study of selected consolidation episodes. The paper shows that fiscal consolidations are likely to raise inequality through various channels including their effects on unemployment. Spending-based consolidations tend to worsen inequality more significantly, relative to tax-based consolidations. The composition of austerity measures also matters: progressive taxation and targeted social benefits and subsidies introduced in the context of a broader decline in spending can help offset some of the adverse distributional impact of consolidation. In addition, fiscal policy can favorably influence long-term trends in both inequality and growth by promoting education and training among low- and middle-income workers.
Keywords:
WP; income; Gini coefficient; Inequality; Fiscal Consolidation; Fiscal Policy; Tax and Spending policy; inequality data; market income; income share; wage bill; income equality; low income; simple average; incomes database; correlation coefficient; order of magnitude; determinants of income inequality; income Gini coefficient; Income inequality; Income distribution; Disposable income; Personal income; Europe; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa; Western Europe; Asia and Pacific
Cover Financial Globalization
Financial Globalization
The Impact on Trade, Policy, Labor, and Capital Flows
International Monetary Fund

Abstract

Assiduously tracking the trends and consequences of globalization, the IMF's quarterly magazine Finance & Development has been a major forum for discussing-and dissecting-the policy options and challenges faced by governments in an era when many national decisions transcend borders. This valuable compilation of articles published over the past eight years focuses on financial globalization, including the policy implications of the huge growth in cross-border capital flows. Articles also look at the expansion of world trade, explore the impact of globalization on jobs, taxation, and the poor, and examine the digital divide between developed and some developing countries. An extraordinary summary that distills nearly a decade of accelerated change.

Keywords:
BOOK; market; liberalization; country; economy; trade openness; market participant; emerging market country; globalization time line; employed workforce; trade share; Capital flows; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Income inequality; Capital account liberalization; Global; Europe; East Asia; Asia and Pacific; North Africa