Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Burlacu, Irina
Author-Email: irina.burlacu@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT/MGSoG
Author-Name: O'Donoghue, Cathal
Author-Email: Cathal.ODonoghue@teagasc.ie
Author-Workplace-Name: Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc
Title: Differential welfare state impacts for frontier working age families
Abstract: Benefits and taxes vary greatly across the European Union owing to 
	 incongruent welfare and taxation systems. This paper analyzes how 
	 welfare states achieve insurance and equity objectives for residents who 
	 work in other countries. The aim is to evaluate the impact of 
	 unemployment benefits and income taxation on these frontier workers’ 
	 welfare in Luxembourg and Belgium that exhibit similar welfare state 
	 objectives. The analysis is based on social security coordination 
	 Regulation 883/2004 provisions on unemployment, taxation regimes and 
	 bi-lateral tax treaties. We find mixed results. First, while countries 
	 follow analogous welfare regimes and pursue similar welfare objectives, 
	 their ensuing outputs differ significantly. Second, differences in 
	 unemployment conditions and benefits favor high discrepancies in 
	 residents’ incomes. Third, mobility creates high vertical and horizontal 
	 inequity among Belgian and Luxembourgish residents.
Classification-JEL: I38
Keywords: frontier workers, social policy, policy coordination
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2012
Number: 2012-061
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2012/wp2012-061.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2012061