Nicolas Hérault

Bio: Nicolas Hérault is an academic researcher from University of Melbourne. The author has contributed to research in topics: Income tax & Income distribution. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 77 publications receiving 668 citations. Previous affiliations of Nicolas Hérault include Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.

Top incomes and inequality in the UK: reconciling estimates from household survey and tax return data

Abstract: We provide the first systematic comparison of UK inequality estimates derived from tax data (World Wealth and Income Database) and household survey data (the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) subfile of the Family Resources Survey). We document by how much existing survey data underestimate top income shares relative to tax data. Exploiting the flexibility access to unit-record survey data provide, we then derive new top-incomeadjusted data. These data enable us to: better track tax-data-estimated top income shares; change the definitions of income, income-sharing unit, and unit of analysis used and thereby undertake more comparable cross-national comparisons (we provide a UK-US illustration); and examine UK inequality levels and trends using four summary indices. Our estimates reveal a greater rise in the inequality of equivalized gross household income among all persons between the mid-1990s and late-2000s than shown by the corresponding HBAI series, especially between 2004/05 and 2007/08.

Survey under-coverage of top incomes and estimation of inequality: what is the role of the UK's SPI adjustment?

Abstract: Survey under-coverage of top incomes leads to bias in survey-based estimates of overall income inequality. Using income tax record data in combination with survey data is a potential approach to address the problem; we consider here the UK’s pioneering ‘SPI adjustment’ method that implements this idea. Since 1992, the principal income distribution series (reported annually in Households Below Average Income) has been based on household survey data in which the incomes of a small number of ‘very rich’ individuals are adjusted using information from ‘very rich’ individuals in personal income tax return data. We explain what the procedure involves, reveal the extent to which it addresses survey under-coverage of top incomes, and show how it affects estimates of overall income inequality. More generally, we assess whether the SPI adjustment is fit for purpose and consider whether variants of it could be employed by other countries.

Building and linking a microsimulation model to a cge model for south africa

Abstract: This paper examines the microeconomic effects of macroeconomic policies or shocks in South Africa. In particular, the paper considers the effects of macroeconomic policies on poverty and inequality by building and linking a microsimulation (MS) model to a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. In the South African context, where poverty and inequality are at high levels, this novel approach enables us to identify the winners and losers of any policy change, so that the impact on poverty and inequality can be assessed in detail.

Trade Liberalisation, Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: A Computable General Equilibrium-Microsimulation Analysis*

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of trade liberalisation on poverty and income inequality in South Africa. The main issue of interest is the effect of international trade on households (especially their income). The approach presented in this paper relies on combining a macro-orientated computable general equilibrium model with a microsimulation model. The main concern regarding poor households is whether the decrease in nominal earnings for formal low-skilled and skilled workers is offset by the upward trend in formal employment levels. The analysis indicates that such a trade-off occurs, implying a decrease in poverty due to trade liberalisation.

Sequential Linking of Computable General Equilibrium and Microsimulation Models

Abstract: Several approaches have recently been developed to combine a computable general equilibrium model (CGE) and a microsimulation (MS) model. These so-called CGE-MS models enjoy a growing interest because they build a bridge between macro- and microeconomic analyses. This paper focuses on the ‘top-down' approach. In this context, the CGE model is used to simulate the changes at the macroeconomic level after the policy change, which are then passed on to the MS model. The aim of this paper is to compare the ‘top-down' approach introduced by Robilliard et al. (2001) based on a behavioural MS model with an alternative and simpler approach making use of a non-behavioural MS model in combination with a reweighting procedure. Both approaches are presented and then applied to the case of trade liberalisation in South Africa. The reweighting approach introduces a small bias in the results, however without modifying the main conclusions. Given its relative simplicity compared to the behavioural approach, the reweighting approach seems to constitute a good alternative when data or time constraints do not allow the use of the behavioural approach and when the interest does not lie in the production of individual-level transition matrices.

The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future

Abstract: The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 414 pages, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.I LOVE THESE GUYS''(Joseph Stiglitz) is an insanely great economist,'' so writes Paul R. Krugman, who should know. These two like to write books for the populace at large on the topic of macroeconomics. Krugman also likes to spout offon Sunday news shows like ''Meet the Press,'' and on all the cable news programs. You can see Krugman arguing with Bill O'Reilly on Meet the Press. From YouTube: ''Don't call me a liar, pal, that's what you do all the time,'' says O'Reilly; ''This is not your show, so you can't cut offmy mic,'' says Krugman. Judging by their expressions, I was glad Tim Russert (6- 3-) was there in the studio at the time to protect Krugman (5- 7-) (O'Reilly stands 6- 4-). Conservative pundits dislike both economists, but pretty much leave Stiglitz alone.Krugman makes it a point to stay out of government affairs. Stiglitz does just the opposite, and he sometimes gets burned. Stiglitz was part of Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and was Chief Economist for the World Bank. After much criticism of the way the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conducted lending to developing countries, he was pretty much fired from the World Bank. Comparing the two, you would have to say that Stiglitz is more the bleeding heart, while Krugman says that what he dislikes most is the dishonesty he sees in political-economic discourse. Both are champions of the common man.Since Stiglitz can make the very valid claim for being ''an insanely great economist,'' most everything he says in his books should be taken seriously. There are some real gems in this book. I especially like the perspective he lends to some of the more peculiar things that happened before, during, and after the financial crisis. People hear about these things in the news from some announcer who makes them sound like just more news-bites, but they are, after all, unprecedented (and largely absurd). Take ''robo-signing'' for instance (page 198).WHAT GOES FOR NEWSRobo-signing was part of what happened during the foreclosure process after the massive numbers of defaults of subprime mortgages. Big banks intentionally did not follow mandated law. Apart from ignoring debtors' rights, an ensuing mess followed. Robo-signing was nothing less than a blatant attempt at rewriting property law, and resulted in lying to the courts about the state of each property's title, literally hundreds of times. No bank officer was charged with a crime. By contrast, the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s led to 829 individual convictions and 650 prison sentences. Nowadays the big banks just pay fines as part of settlements where they admit no guilt, and it's just part of doing business.Take algorithmic or ''flash'' trading in the stock exchanges (page 164). These are buys and sales made in nanoseconds on the basis of extracting information from the patterns of prices and trades. Nothing like real information gathered through market research on an industry, or on a firm in a certain industry, backs up these trades. But traders swear that ''price discovery'' is happening this way, and that all this backs up the efficient markets model. So on May 6, 2010 stock prices plummeted to a point where the Dow Jones temporarily lost 10% of its value. There are reasons to believe that these trades ''make markets not just more volatile but also less 'informative' '' (page 166). Still, the talk on the street is all about efficient markets (echoing Alan Greenspan's failures at the Federal Reserve).Take failed privatizations. When electric power in California was liberalized and Enron manipulated prices and public power to its advantage, this was a story about the company's accounting practices, not about privatizing something that had no business being privatized. …

Book Review: OECD, Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries:

Abstract: Será que a desigualdade de rendimentos aumentou durante os últimos tempos? Quem ganhou e quem perdeu neste processo? Este processo afectou todos os países da OCDE uniformemente? Em que medida é que maiores desigualdades de rendimentos são a consequência de maiores diferenças nos rendimentos dos trabalhadores e até que ponto são afectados por outros factores? Finalmente, como é que a redistribuição governamental através do sistema de benefícios fiscais afecta estas tendências?

“公共财政”和“Public Finance”辨析

Abstract: The revision of the Rating Outlook to Stable from Negative reflects Fitch’s belief that the city may be required by the EPA to move to secondary treatment at its two largest treatment plants at some time in the future. However, the timing and costs associated with this upgrade could be long term, near or beyond the final year of the current large capital plan (2019). Furthermore, negotiations and the final agreement regarding the timing of such regulatory upgrades may not occur quickly. The Stable Rating Outlook reflects Fitch’s expectation that the third rate package will be adopted and become effective in fiscal 2012 as anticipated and that a change in political administrations or New Issues Wastewater System Revenue Bonds (First Bond Resolution), Senior Series 2009A, 2009B, and 2009C Wastewater System Revenue Bonds (Second Bond Resolution), Junior Series 2009A

Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage

Abstract: This report surveys the research in OECD countries on intergenerational mobility – i.e. the extent to which key characteristics and life experiences of individuals differ from those of their parents. A number of findings emerge: Intergenerational earnings mobility varies significantly across countries; Education is a major contributor to intergenerational income mobility and educational differences tend to persist across generations; Evidence of intergenerational immobility extends to other outcomes; Early and sustained investment in children and families can help.