The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in Chile

Martinez-Aguilar, Sandra ; Fuchs, Alan ; Ortiz-Juarez, Eduardo ; Del Carmen, Giselle

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: fiscal policy;    inequality;    poverty;    social assistance;    taxation;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7939
RP-ID  :  WPS7939

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper applies a comprehensivetax-benefit incidence analysis to estimate thedistributional effects of fiscal policy in Chile in 2013.Four results are indicative of an overall positive neteffect of fiscal interventions on poverty and inequality.First, subsidies exert a positive, yet modest effect onpoverty and inequality, whereas direct transfers areprogressive, equalizing, and reduce the poverty headcount by4 to 5 percentage points, depending on the poverty lineused. Second, although social contributions are unequalizingand poverty-increasing, direct taxes on personal income areequalizing and poverty-neutral, whereas indirect taxes arepoverty-increasing but exert a counterintuitive, yetfeasible equalizing effect known as Lambert'sconundrum. Third, social spending on tertiary education isslightly equalizing but it is not pro-poor, contrary to theeffects of social spending on basic and secondary educationand health, which are not only equalizing but also pro-poor.Finally, the net effect of Chile's tax/transfer systemleaves fewer individuals impoverished relative to the numberof fiscal gainers, and the magnitude of monetary fiscalgains is significantly higher than that of fiscal impoverishment.