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With the advancement of marketization, China has achieved rapid economic growth and economic class differentiation. This research analyzes the data from China's livelihood survey, divides the urban Chinese into five socio-economic classes, and tests their preferences and tendencies for income redistribution. It obtains the general attitude differences in subsidy policy and income inequality during COVID-19. Our conclusion are consistent with the existing literature to a great extent; that is, personal factors (self-interest and belief in fairness) play a crucial role in the attitude of Chinese citizens. In the analysis of situational factors, the results show that the higher the level of marketization, the people are more likely to have stronger negative emotions about subsidy or redistribution policies. Further analysis shows that people with the lowest income are susceptible to the fact that income inequality has become significant and show a strong willingness to support the government's redistribution policy. In contrast, middle-class people tend to favor the government's redistribution policy, although they will not benefit much from the redistribution policy. Therefore, they lack the motivation to support the government in vigorously implementing the subsidy policy. Significantly, high-income people are indifferent, as they lack such motivation even more. The difference in redistribution preferences between upper-class and lower-class groups signals polarization in Chinese society, especially income redistribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how in Medicare Part D insurers' gaming of the subsidy paid to low-income enrollees distorts premiums and raises the program cost. Using plan-level data from the first five years of the program, I find multiple instances of pricing strategy distortions for the largest insurers. Instrumental variable estimates indicate that the changes in a concentration index measuring the manipulability of the subsidy can explain a large share of the premium growth observed between 2006 and 2011. Removing this distortion could reduce the cost of the program without worsening consumer welfare.(JEL G22, H51, I13, I18) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to see whether Government of India is successful to make credit accessible to the poor; to examine the role of competition in microfinance sector in ensuring credit to the ultra poor borrowers; to see the role of subsidy in microfinance movement. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper is based on secondary data. This paper examines, in an analytical framework with a variety of assumptions, the role of microfinance institutes (MFIs) in bringing capital to the ultra poor. Findings -- In an attempt to make credit accessible to the poor, Government of India took several measures, but did not succeed to a significant extent. This paper has shown that the microcredit has become accessible to the "working poor," but not to the ultra poor. Initially the model shows that in the absence of competition MFI and moneylender are equally exploitative to the ultra poor borrowers. The model further shows that in the presence or absence of competition in the credit market, credit may be accessible to the ultra poor borrowers under certain conditions. Excessive subsidies might drive out the poor borrowers from the microfinance sector. Originality/value -- For the poor clients served by the microfinance institution, the argument goes, the access not the cost (interest rate) that matters (Robinson, 2001). Here the implicit assumption is that the interest rate elasticity of demand for micro credit is close to zero (Emran et al., 2006). In an interesting paper Deheja et al (2005) has shown that the interest rate elasticity of loan in the microfinance system is significantly negative. The author is of the opinion that this is the cost of credit as well as inability to pay a minimum price of credit, which denies the access to credit. JEL Classifications -- G21, G38, L12, L14, O18 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political model chosen in Colombia to offer public housing to the poorest, involves the market taken as a regulator of the effective access to houses, exclusively following the private property paradigm. Meanwhile, it is intended to constitutionally grant the right to housing ensured also as a political statement. At the same time, the right to the city progressively makes its way into the international scenery as a collective precept; this helps visualize the conflict between the economic reality of the model and its social implications. Therefore, the text contrasts the concepts of private property, social utility; individualism, collectivism; and constitutional framework, supply and demand laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This document assesses the performance of SISBEN as instrument for targeting health insurance for the poor, RS, since it was created after Law 100 of 1993. Evidence suggests that targeting of health insurance based on Viejo SISBEN for years 1997 and 2003 was acceptable. In addition, preliminary evidence available for 2007 shows that the introduction of Nuevo SISBEN corrected several of the limitations of Viejo SISBEN, improving the targeting of RS. On the other hand, we analyze the effects of households' strategic response to SISBEN surveyors and find that the better off households benefit more of it, making of strategic response a regressive tool that allows close to one fifth of RS beneficiaries to manage to get included even though they are not actually eligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many developing countries use food-price subsidies or controls to improve nutrition. However, subsidizing goods on which households spend a high proportion of their budget can create large wealth effects. Consumers may then substitute toward foods with higher nonnutritional attributes (such as taste) but lower nutritional content per unit of currency, weakening or perhaps even reversing the subsidy's intended impact. We analyze data from a randomized program of large price subsidies for poor households in two provinces of China and find no evidence that the subsidies improved nutrition. In fact, they may have had a negative impact for some households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different demand-side or supply-side instruments can be used in order to encourage the use of formal childcare. With the budgetary constraints of the last two decades, some countries have changed their childcare policy leading to the implementation of demand-side rather than supply-side instruments. The introduction of demand-side subsidies to encourage the use of formal childcare services was a major change in Belgium since, until 1988, subsidies were directly granted to childcare services providers in order to reduce their running costs. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of both demand-side and supply side subsidies on the use of formal childcare by low-income families. From this perspective, we analyzed, on the one hand, the effect of the tax deduction instrument implemented in Belgium and, on the other hand, the effect of an increase in the provision of childcare places on the use of formal childcare services. We found that the choice of policy instruments is not neutral in terms of access to formal childcare for families belonging to different income groups. Indeed, while a higher supply of childcare places increases the probability of access for low-income families, the tax deduction can have a mixed outcome as far as access to childcare is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the duration and effect of child-care subsidy use among low-income working mothers in Wisconsin. Using an event-history model, the study finds that mothers are likely to cycle on and off subsidy systems and that their subsidy spells tend to end relatively quickly. Results from a Tobit model with a lagged dependent variable suggest that long-term use of child-care subsidies is associated with increases in mothers' earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ICT networks and services are not effectively reaching the poor, particularly those living in rural areas. Public subsidies for traditional operators to cover the difference between tariffs and cost-recovery levels have proved limited in addressing this continuing gap. This article explores the role that could be played by a largely unnoticed set of actors we call microtelcos--small-scale telecom operators that combine local entrepreneurship, innovative business models, and low-cost technologies to offer ICT services in areas of little interest to traditional operators. Through a series of case studies from Latin America, we document how microtelcos combine organizational and informational advantages that allow them to service the poor effectively and with limited access to public subsidies. In fact, we show that they have done so despite a less than favorable regulatory environment. The article examines the case for microtelcos as an effective alternative to address the ICT needs of the poor and suggests how existing regulatory obstacles may be removed so that microtelcos could be more effectively harnessed to bridge continuing access gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the outcome of health reform implemented in Colombia in 1993. It discusses changes to health institutions as well as the difficulties of transferring funding from supply- to demand-side channels. It evaluates the impact of the subsidized health plan on the poor, particularly on their self-reported health status, consumption of nonhealth goods, and labor force participation. It also analyzes the impact of reform on expenditure and hospital efficiency.

The article presents comments to the paper "Assessing Health Reform in Colombia: From Theory to Practice," published in this issue. David McKenzie claims that other countries planning health reform can draw lessons from the paper. Rodrigo R. Soares comments on the political economy of the Colombian reform and the subsidized health regime for the poor.

Presents a study which discussed different forms of transfer of income from a group of rich individuals to a group of poor individuals. Sample of direct income transfer; Discussion on income transfer which is combined with specific subsidies to the poor for the consumption of one good; Numerical example of the problem and a numerical comparison of different cases; Possible applications and implications of the models.

Abstract--We examine the effects of child care subsidies on the labor supply decisions of low-income mothers and on the quality of care their children receive using newly gathered data on two programs that subsidize the child care expenditures of families in Kentucky. We find that single mothers who receive child care subsidies are more likely to be employed and are generally more satisfied with the care their children receive, but subsidies have little effect on hours worked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]