Do more equal slices shrink the cake? An empirical investigation of tax-transfer reform proposals in Italy

A crucial issue in efficiency-equality evaluations of tax reforms resides in the possibility that the level as well as the distribution of welfare may change, where the household-specific measures of welfare capture the value of income as well as the value of leisure. A better-designed redistribution and income support system may not only foster equality but also improve the configuration of incentives and by this route contribute in its turn to efficiency. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the welfare effects for married couples of replacing the Italian tax system by three alternative hypothetical reforms: a flat tax, a negative income tax, and a work fare scheme. We employ a microeconometric model of household labour supply that represents partners simultaneous choices, allows for constraints in the choice of hours of work, and is sufficiently flexible to capture a large variety of supply responses. These features appear to be crucial in the evaluation of reform effects. The results suggest that there is scope for improving upon the current system under both the efficiency and the equality criterion. The benefits from the reforms, however, come from unexpected directions since the largest labour supply contribution come from poor and middle class households whereas rich households appear to be much less responsive to changes in the tax rates. The simulation results reveal that a crucial role in shaping the results is played by the relatively higher behavioural responsiveness of married women living in low and average income households.All correspondence to Ugo Colombino. We would like to thank Tom Wennemo for skilful programming assistance, Anne Skoglund for technical assistance and word processing, K.A. Breke and E. Holmøy and an anonymous referee for useful comments. Special thanks to Dino Rizzi (University of Venezia), who provided us with a program written by him for the simulation of the direct and inverse 1993 tax-transfer rules (Rizzi 1996). Part of the paper was written when Aaberge and Strøm were visiting ICER and the Department of Economics in Torino. ICER is gratefully acknowledged for providing financial support and excellent working conditions. Ugo Colombino gratefully acknowledges financial and organisational support from Statistics Norway and the Department of Economics in Oslo, and from the Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research (MURST research grants 1998 and 2000). Responsible editor: Alessandro Cigno.     

Labor supply responses and welfare effects from replacing current tax rules by a flat tax: Empirical evidence from Italy, Norway and Sweden

This paper employs a microeconometric framework to examine the labor supply responses and the welfare effects from replacing current tax systems in Italy, Norway and Sweden by a flat tax on total income. The flat tax rates are determined so that the tax revenues are equal to the revenues as of 1992. The flat tax rates vary from 23 per cent in Italy, 25 per cent in Norway, to 29 per cent in Sweden. In all three countries the labor supply responses decline sharply with pre-reform disposable income. The results show that the efficiency costs of the current tax systems relative to a flat tax may be rather high in Norway and much lower, but positive, in Italy and Sweden. In all three countries “rich” households – defined by their pre-tax-reform income – tend to benefit (in terms of welfare) more than “poor” households. In Italy and Sweden a majority will lose from a shift to a flat tax, while in Norway a majority is predicted to win. Received: 19 May 1998/Accepted: 02 July 1999     

Special Education Knowledge Seen as a Social Problem

The article is based on a historical study aiming at analysing the historical determinants for the academic content of the special educational discipline-regarding both ideological attitudes against disability and segregation and more concrete initiatives of action-as it appeared when the expert-function of special education was established during the 1920s and 1930s in Sweden. As the determinants I consider the nineteenth, as well as the twentieth cetury's socio-ideological, educational political and educational philosophical discourses. In order to describe the tendencies in contents I have used the first Scandinavian journal in the special educational field (Hjalpskolan). I have in my discussion been inspired by Michel Foucault's analysis of subtle conditions of power, in the forms of regulations and control mechanisms between the societies 'normal' and its marginal groupings. The essence of the study is that these tendencies are socially constructed within the knowledge tradition of the swedish compulsory school system. Despite their variations they can be classified as follows: a moralizing theme, where the various scientifically coloured arguments for and against segregation are discussed. A religious 'merciful' theme; the genuine human loving compassion with 'the societies least fortunate'. Finally, the sociopolitical theme with focus on socio-economical discussion.     

Work motivation, organisational identification, and well-being in call centre work

Previous work has not considered the interplay of motivational forces linked to the task with those linked to the social identity of employees. The aim of the present study is to combine these approaches. Two studies with call centre agents (N=211, N=161) were conducted in which the relationships of objective working conditions (e.g., inbound vs. outbound work), subjective measures of motivating potential of work, and organisational identification were analysed. Job satisfaction, turnover intentions, organisational citizenship behavior (OCB), health complaints, and burnout were assessed as indicators of the agents' work motivation and well-being. In both studies it was found that objective working conditions substantially correlated with subjective measures of work motivation. Moreover, employees experiencing a high motivating potential at work reported more OCB, higher job satisfaction, and less turnover intentions. As hypothesized, organisational identification was a further independent predictor of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, OCB, and well-being. Highly organisationally identified employees report higher work motivation and more well-being. Additionally, interactions between the motivating potential and organisational identification were found. However, all the results indicate that interventions seeking to enhance work motivation and well-being in call centres should improve both the motivating potential of the job and organisational identification. These two factors combined in an additive way across both studies.     

Soziale Schichtung Und Delinquenz

The frequently posited relationship between social class and criminal behaviour is dubious in theory and lacking empirical evidence. Based upon the economic theory of crime by Gary S. Becker we present an extended model which integrates the effects of the individuals’ class position on their subjective evaluations of costs, utility, and the probability of being caught. Additionally, we take into account selective incentives (social opportunities) and the internalization of social norms concerning conformity (framing of the social situation) depending on social class. We test the model for two offences: shop-lifting and tax-evasion. The source of data is the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) for the years 1990 and 2000. The empirical results support the theoretical model. There is no general relationship between the individuals’ social status and their incentives for criminal behaviour. However, the types of offences committed are affected by the social status. Subjective expected probability of failure or success is more important than fear of punishment or the expected utility. Internalized norms decrease the probability of committing a crime.     

Leadership behaviour and leader self-reported well-being: A review,integration and meta-analytic examination

ABSTRACT

While the link between leadership and follower well-being is well established, less is known about the relation between leaders’ leadership behaviour and their own well-being. Particularly, a systematic integration of existing studies is missing. Based on an integrated framework summarising major theories on the leader well-being–leadership link, we quantitatively synthesised findings on the relations between different leadership behaviours and leader well-being indicators. The meta-analytical results (95 effect sizes; N?=?12,617) confirmed significant relationships of constructive and destructive leadership with leader well-being in the expected directions. Relative weight analyses on the constructive leadership behaviours showed that change-oriented and relational-oriented leadership (e.g. transformational, participative) accounted for more variance in leader well-being than task-oriented leadership (e.g. transactional). Regarding destructive leadership, active destructive leadership (e.g. abusive supervision) showed stronger negative associations with leader well-being than passive leadership (e.g. laissez-faire). Based on our integrated framework, we proposed and found support for divergent patterns of associations for different forms of well-being (positive vs. negative, short-term vs. long-term, job-related vs. general). Our study demonstrates a considerable linkage between leader well-being and leadership, supporting the adoption of leadership development programmes and organisational health interventions for leaders given their impact on employees, teams and organisations.     

A matter of time? Challenging and hindering effects of time pressure on work engagement

The aim of our research was to test time-exposure effects of time pressure as a stressor typically considered to be a challenge, rather than a hindrance stressor. We examined the within- and between-person effects of time pressure on work engagement in two diary/panel studies with employees using intervals of five days and three weeks, respectively (Study 1, n?=?350, and n?=?357, respectively) and six to eight weeks (Study 2, n?=?238). We assumed that it is a matter of time whether time pressure acts as a challenge (under short-term exposure) or as a hindrance stressor (under long-term exposure). We found significant positive within-person effects of time pressure on work engagement when controlling for strain in the daily and weekly diary assessment (Study 1), but a significant negative within-person effect in the six to eight weeks’ assessment (Study 2). The between-person effects were significant and negative in all studies. Although a short-term increase can be beneficial for a certain time, stable and long-time exposure of time pressure does rather reduce work engagement. Thus, employers should not keep time pressure permanently high to motivate their employees. However, short-term increases of time pressure (e.g. before a deadline) may serve as a motivating factor.