by Kate McFarland | Jun 13, 2016 | Research
Finland’s University of Tampere offered a course on basic income, titled “Universal Basic Income: New Avenues in Social Welfare Policy,” which ran from February through May of this year. (This is the second time that a course on basic income has been taught at the university.)
According to the course outline,
The purpose of this course is to offer students a thorough introduction about basic income as a social policy instrument. The course outlines the main characteristics of basic income and explores how it differs from traditional income support policies. In addition, the course provides a critical overview of the reasons for and against a basic income as well as reviewing a number of practical and political challenges that need to be overcome. Finally, the course offers a series of lectures that focus on basic income in the Finnish context, including an updated account of the ongoing preparation for the basic income experiment scheduled to start in January 2017.
The course was led by University of Tampere Professors Jurgen De Wispelaere and Antti Halmetoja, and also featured a series of expert guest lecturers.
The presentations and video recording of (most of) the lectures are now available on the course’s website (in English), as are reports from students.
Check them out — and give yourself a university-quality education in basic income, sans tuition and grades!
Image: University of Tampere (Tiia Monto via Wikimedia Commons)
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon. (To see how you too can support my work for Basic Income News, click the link.)
by Kate McFarland | May 28, 2016 | News
On May 8, 2016, activist, artist, and analyst Marlen Vargas Del Razo hosted a Google/YouTube hangout event with leading basic income researcher Jurgen De Wispelaere, a Visiting Research Fellow at Finland’s University of Tampere, founding co-editor of the journal Basic Income Studies, and member of BIEN’s Executive Committee.
De Wispelaere is presently involved with the design of Finland’s basic income trial, which will begin next year, and recently developed a basic income course at the University of Tampere. (Also, and not unimportantly in my view, he is “a big fan of death metal and believes a basic income would provide much needed support for the underground music scene.”)
During the Google hangout, De Wispelaere describes the current state of basic income research in Finland, discusses some of the limitations of experiments, and compares and contrasts the issues driving basic income trials and proposals throughout the world — and much more.
De Wispelaere also offers some incisive critiques of the basic income movement itself. Why ought we moderate our enthusiasm when a well-known individual or group announces support for basic income? Why might we have reservations about the catchy and popular slogan “Basic income isn’t left or right; it’s forward”? Listen to hear Jurgen’s assessment.
Watch 47-minute conversation here on YouTube.
Photo of Jurgen from Basic Income Canada Network (flickr)
by Kate McFarland | Apr 5, 2016 | News
Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, released its preliminary report on a universal basic income on March 30th.
The report details several models of a basic income — including a full unconditional basic income, which would replace existing benefits, a partial basic income, and a negative income tax, among others.
After examining these options, the working group recommends that Finland adopt a partial basic income model for its impending experiments. According to the report, this model would “consolidate many of the existing benefits offering basic economic security, while earnings-related benefits would remain largely unaffected.” The group further recommends that a combination of national and regional samples be used in the trials.
The complete report, in Finnish, is accessible from Kela’s website. A summary is available below:
Suitability of different basic income models for the experiment
The preliminary report looks at a full-fledged unconditional basic income model, a partial basic income model, a negative income tax model as well as possible other models in terms of their suitability for the experiment. An unconditional basic income would take the place of much of the currently existing system of social provision, where eligibility for benefits is tied to specific contingencies. The basic income would therefore have to be substantial, which would make the model quite expensive. A partial basic income model would consolidate many of the existing benefits offering basic economic security, while earnings-related benefits would remain largely unaffected. To study incentive effects, simulations on a partial basic income model are run at a range of different replacement rates and levels of housing costs.
Both nationwide and regional samples
The working group proposes that a two-pronged sampling approach should be used in the actual experiment, consisting of a randomised nationwide sample and a regional, and more intensive, sample to study externalities. A weighted sample can be produced of population groups that are particularly relevant to the experiment. There are a number of constitutional and other legal problems associated with the design of the experiment, which the report examines extensively.
According to the report, a universal basic income would eliminate some bureaucratic roadblocks and gaps in coverage, but would not by itself solve all problems related to disincentives. The elimination of disincentives requires reforms in several different areas of social and tax policy. One problematic group in terms of social policy consists of single parents, particularly those paying a high rent and living in the greater Helsinki area. It is difficult to eliminate the disincentives they face without a wholesale readjustment of the social security system. Lowering the minimum level of welfare provision would be an easy way to produce better incentive outcomes. However, doing so would increase poverty and create more financial hardship.
Partial basic income as starting point
The report points out that trying out a negative income tax would require access to a comprehensive registry of incomes. Studies in the United States show that experiments with self-reported data do not produce reliable results. A basic income model strongly based on conditional reciprocity runs into problems of supervision and control, i.e., how to define the level of participation required by reciprocity and who will supervise and document that the requirements are met. Such an experiment would necessarily be of limited scope.
The working group believes that consolidation of the current system of basic economic security into a partial basic income would produce valuable results. Since a universal basic income and a negative income tax are, from the individual’s perspective, functionally equivalent, trying out a partial basic income would generate useful information also about the negative income tax. Such an experiment could be implemented without a registry of incomes by leveraging the existing welfare payments system operated by the Social Insurance Institution. Since it would also be possible to use the welfare benefits provided by the Social Insurance Institution as a basis for the experiment, the sample size could be increased substantially, which would make the results more reliable and make it possible to focus on specific population groups.
The Finnish government will now decide, based on the report, how to design the experiments, and what new legislation will necessary. Kela’s working group will release its final report on basic income on November 15th.
Finland announced its plans to test a basic income last November, to resounding international publicity. For more information, see the following Basic Income News reports:
Stanislas Jourdan, “FINLAND: Government Forms Research Team to Design Basic Income Pilots,” 15 October 2015.
Vito Laterza, “FINLAND: Basic income experiment – what we know,” 9 December 2015.
Tyler Prochazka, “Dylan Matthews, ‘Finland’s hugely exciting experiment in basic income, explained,” 13 December 2015.
Thanks, as always, to my supporters on Patreon.
by Karl Widerquist | Apr 3, 2016 | News
A seminar, entitled “Basic income in a global world: Seminar” will take place on 13 April 2016, from 12:00 to 16:00 in Kelan päätalon auditorio, Nordenskiöldinkatu 12, Helsinki tai video.
This seminar looks at prospects for a basic income in a global environment. What challenges do EU legislation and a globalised labour market present for the basic income? The seminar features lectures in English by Professor Guy Standing of the University of London and Jurgen de Wispelaere, a research fellow at the University of Tampere. It will also be broadcast live over the internet.
The event takes place in conjunction with Kela, which is beginning research to conduct a basic income pilot project in Finland.
To read more about it in Finnish go to this link.
To watch the video broadcast in English and Finnish, go to this link.
by Kate McFarland | Mar 28, 2016 | Research
University of Tampere
Last November, Finland’s plans to test a basic income caught the attention of international media. Although the experiments are still some months away (scheduled to begin in 2017), the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (KELA) has continued to make strides in investigating the possibilities for a basic income.
KELA has recently published a working paper that reviews the current state of the debate on basic income and assesses the pros and cons of various specific proposals.
Johanna Perkiö, a doctoral candidate at the University of Tampere, has written a useful summary of the KELA paper — including a description of the differences between the models of a basic income proposed by the Green Party, the Left Alliance, the think tank Libera, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Youth Organization.
Perkiö also discusses the challenge of removing disincentives to work during the study, given that traditional benefits will remain in place during the trials. She broaches solutions such as a negative income tax system and reduction of benefits on a sliding scale.
To learn more about the variety of basic income models under consideration:
Johanna Perkiö, “Universal basic income: A search for alternative models,” Tutkimusblogi, January 25th, 2016.
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon. (Click the link to see how you too can support my work for Basic Income News.)
