by Malcolm Torry | Apr 30, 2020 | News, Research
The Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex has published new microsimulation research on the feasibility of a Recovery Basic Income in the UK, and on the feasibility of a continuing Basic Income after the current crisis is over: Evaluation of a Recovery Basic Income, and of a sustainable revenue neutral Citizen’s Basic Income, with an appendix relating to different Universal Credit roll-out scenarios
Abstract: A Citizen’s Basic Income, sometimes called a Basic Income, a Universal Basic Income, or a Citizen’s Income, is an unconditional and nonwithdrawable income paid to every individual. There have been calls during the coronavirus crisis for both an Emergency Basic Income (an immediate Basic Income to protect individuals’ incomes) and for a Recovery Basic Income (a Basic Income to be implemented with a view to preventing a recession once the virus outbreak begins to subside), and also for a permanent Citizen’s Basic Income scheme. This working paper summarises the results of microsimulation research on a Recovery Basic Income and on a subsequent sustainable revenue neutral Citizen’s Basic Income. An appendix studies the implementation of a Citizen’s Basic Income scheme in the context of different Universal Credit roll-out assumptions.
by Andre Coelho | Apr 28, 2020 | News, Research
Finland’s Basic Income Experiment was the world’s first statutory, nationwide and randomized basic income experiment. That experiment, in which preliminary results have already been reported on, several research questions were asked: How did the Basic Income Experiment affect participants’ employment? What were the effects on health, livelihoods and experiences of government bureaucracy? In interviews, how do the participants perceive the significance of the experiment in their lives?
The final results of the basic income experiment will be released on Wednesday, May 6th 2020, online. In this webcast, researchers present findings of the basic income experiment on employment and well-being of the participants.
The results presented are based on an analysis register data from both pilot years as well as on face-to-face interviews with the participants in the experiment. In addition, survey data has been analyzed more comprehensively than before.
The webcast will be held, in Finnish, from 1 pm to 2:15 pm and, in English, from 2:20 pm to 3:00 pm (Finnish time, GMT+3). The webcast is open to anyone interested.
by Andre Coelho | Feb 11, 2020 | Opinion, Research
A new
article (“
Exit strategy or exit trap? Basic income and the ‘power to say no’ in the age of precarious employment“) has been published by
Simon Birnbaum and
Jurgen De Wispelaere, analysing the “power to say no” argument as a support for basic income policies. The researchers show that this argument may be flawed, given what they consider a realistic analysis of the present-day labor market. by Karl Widerquist | Feb 5, 2020 | News, Research
Basic Income will be a major stream at the ESPAnet conference in Leuven, Belgium, 2-4 September 2020
“Basic income across Europe: Exploring variation in proposals, policy windows, and trajectories”
Stream convenors: Jurgen De Wispelaere, Tim Vlandas and Hanna Schwander
The basic income proposal has generated exponential policy (and public) interest in a short time span. In many countries a majority of the population expresses support for a basic income, several recent prominent experiments have been launched, and a basic income has been mentioned in several recent elections and was the subject of a referendum in Switzerland.
This stream has two objectives. First, to examine what might explain the current policy interest. In addition to better understanding how to interpret the current momentum — a genuine policy window or a passing fad? — we are seeking contributions that theorise and empirically explore this resurgence. We are especially interested in possible answers to the puzzle of why basic income features prominently in policy debates yet still appears to resists policy implementation. A second objective is to explore where to go next, both academically and politically for supporters of a basic income. What are the wider theoretical implications of this mixed and varying support for the politics and economics of social policy in advanced economies? What are the leading avenues to maintain policy interest in basic income? What are the main political and policy challenges to overcome? What are the most feasible pathways or trajectories to move towards some form of basic income? What pre-existing policies or institutions serve as stepping stones that might promote basic income policy implementation under current conditions?
Answers to these questions have to account for the specific political and policy context that is present in different European countries, which in part accounts for why basic income proposals and the ongoing debate shows considerable cross-country variation, often at odds with prominent political economy typologies. We are particularly interested in papers that advance the comparative understanding of basic income variation across Europe employing diverse theoretical frameworks and empirical methods.
To apply to participate, send an abstract to the organizers.
Deadline for abstract submission is 15 April 2020. More info at https://kuleuvencongres.be/espanet2020/home
by Andre Coelho | Sep 29, 2019 | News, Research
A panel on Politics of Universal Basic Income is being summoned at the next 27th International Conference of Europeanists, which will be held in Reykjavik (Iceland), on the 22-24th of June 2020. For that purpose, a Call for Papers has been launched, and submissions are being accepted up until the 10th of October, according to these instructions.
In this panel, there is an interest in empirical studies that look at the social and political processes surrounding UBIs discussions, including pilot test and experiment designs and implementations, either at the local, national or supranational level, in Europe and elsewhere.
The specific panel is being orgazined by César Guzmán-Concha (Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow, Université de Genève; Visiting Fellow, European University Institute)
by Andre Coelho | Sep 20, 2019 | Research
The UBIEXP research group and the journal Ethics, Politics & Society (EPS), from the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society, together with the Portuguese Basic Income association, invite submissions for a international essay prize competition on the following topic: “What (if Anything) Can Justify Basic Income Experiments?” Details can be found here. The prize is €1000, and the essay will be published in the EPS journal.
Also, the International Political Science Association (IPSA-AISP), organizing the 26th World Congress of Political Science in Lisbon (25 – 29th July 2020), Portugal, is accepting abstracts for The Epistemology and Political Philosophy of Basic Income Experiments panel, to be sent here, up until October 10th 2019.
