This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. Journal of Economic Literature
  4. September 2019
  5. A Review on Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy by Philippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

A Review on Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy by Philippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght

  • Caterina Calsamiglia
  • Sabine Flamand
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 57, no. 3, September 2019
(pp. 644–58)
Download Full Text PDF

Abstract

In order to clarify the potential impact of a basic income, we argue that any discussion on whether to adopt a basic income policy should be framed within the greater context of the transfer system as a whole. In particular, such discussion should consider separately the issues of (i) the desired income distribution to be achieved and (ii) the most efficient way of achieving it through a transfer system. Further, we stress the importance of the non-take-up phenomenon in current transfer systems and discuss the potential necessity of a basic income policy in the age of automation.

Citation

Calsamiglia, Caterina, and Sabine Flamand. 2019. "A Review on Basic Income: A Radical Proposal for a Free Society and a Sane Economy by Philippe Van Parijs and Yannick Vanderborght." Journal of Economic Literature, 57 (3): 644–58. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20181476

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
  • I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
  • I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs