by Peter Knight | May 11, 2023 | News
How popular is basic income among the general public and different groups within it? Although many argue that this question is hugely important for the political feasibility of public opinion, the current scientific evidence is very much scattered. This book provides the most-up-to date and fine-grained overview of the popularity of basic income that is currently available.
Using data from a wide array of public opinion polls conducted in different countries and years, the book first charts popular support for the ideal-typical version of basic income, broadly defined as a “periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement”. On top of that, the book maps popular support for the many other, differently designed varieties of basic income that are part of real-world proposals, pilots, and experiments – including, for example, a participation income, a negative income tax, and a stakeholder grant.
By investigating how and why support for different types of basic income varies across countries, evolves over time, and differs between individuals with different characteristics, this book offers crucial information about the political constituencies that can be mobilized in favor of (or against) the introduction of basic income, thereby contributing to our knowledge on the political feasibility of basic income.
The book can be accessed here. In case of questions, please contact the author at tijs.laenen@kuleuven.be.
by Enno Schmidt | May 4, 2023 | Events, News
FRIBIS will be hosting a three-part Summer School this year which will take place in Freiburg (Germany). Each part will focus on the topic of “Empirical Methods in UBI Investigation” but from different perspectives. The Summer School will be held in English and applications can be submitted now. Application deadline: 22nd May 2023.
July 10th – How to build a UBI pilot – Delivered by Dr. Neil Howard (University of Bath) & Dr. Sarath Davala (Basic Income Earth Network) – A growing number of UBI pilot tests are being proposed or are in preparation around the world. However, there is limited knowledge about how to design a pilot, the most appropriate methods, and the ethics of pilot research. Participants will address these issues.
July 11th-14th – Social Contract Lab Experiments – Delivered by Prof. Bernhard Neumärker (Universität Freiburg), Prof. Lorenzo Sacconi (Università degli Studi di Milano Statale), Prof. Marco Faillo (Università di Trento) & Dr. Virginia Cecchini Manara (Università degli Studi di Milano Statale) – It will focus on the application of Social Contract Theory to behavioural and experimental economics, both in theory and practice. Participants will discuss the relevance of behavioural experiments for normative theories and learn how to design and conduct lab experiments.
July 18th-20th – Microsimulation & Social Welfare Maximization – Delivered by Prof. Ugo Colombino (University of Turin) – Both young researchers (MSc, PhD) and more advanced academics who are nevertheless still beginners in static modelling will have the rare opportunity to learn from an extensive introduction to the development of static microsimulation models and welfare analysis, covering both theory and practice.
We are looking forward to your application and we’d be pleased if you could share the event with potentially interested students, phd-candidates & colleagues.
by Peter Knight | Apr 20, 2023 | News
Image credit: https://www.givedirectly.org/ubi-study/
On 19 April 2023 The Guardian published a review by Peter Bradshaw of the 2022 film, “Free Money”. The documentary follows an experiment funded by the charity GiveDirectly in which residents of the Kenyan village of Kogutu over the age of 18 can opt to receive a universal basic income of $22 per month for the test period of 12 years.
by Jurgen De Wispelaere | Mar 7, 2023 | Events, News
The photo above is of President Aragonès (ERC) next to Salvador Illa (PSC) after ratifying the agreement on the Catalan anual budget. (C) Joan Mateu Parra.
The Catalan Basic Income Pilot project, which plans to conduct one of the largest basic income experiments featuring 5000 individuals in several locations across Catalunya, is currently under threat. On Friday the Catalan Parliament will vote on the budget for the upcoming year, including an amendment to defund (and by implication cancel) the pilot project. There are several initiatives under way to support the continuation of the project. The Scientific Committee today published an open letter in support of the Catalan Basic Income Pilot project, published in elDiario.es.
Read an English translation of the letter here.
by Peter Knight | Jan 29, 2023 | News
A group of Russian professors led by Vyacheslav Bobkov of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Scientific Centre of Labour Economics, Moscow, has published a 371 page monograph in Russian with an English language summary.
“Goals of the study presented in the monograph are to develop theoretical provisions of the concept of an universal basic income (UBI); to summarize and systematize the results of the survey of the Russian experts and citizens about the potential UBI key principles and possibilities of its implementation in Russia; to identify primary foreground categories of the population for its testing; to assess the feasibility of expanding UBI tools, taking into account the development of it’s transitional forms (the definition of “basic income (BI)” is used below for them), especially during the COVID–19 pandemic; to model the pilot projects (experiments) on the UBI implementation for the most vulnerable groups of the population.”
You can read the English summary here and the full Russian text here.
