What is SORESI?
SORESI is a web application for Austria, based on the microsimulation model EUROMOD. The aim is to develop a web based tool for policy makers and the broader public to simulate policy reforms and to analyse their social impact, namely the effects on the national poverty rate, income inequality indicators and different income groups.
SORESI offers the opportunity to play around with such ideas and to see their effects on the national poverty rate, income inequality indicators and different income groups. For an example please view the Policy Brief “Social Reform Microsimulation (SORESI)”.
In 2014, a new web interface was released which includes different output levels (equivalised household incomes, individual incomes and a tool for model households). For 2015, together with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection an analysis on foreign nationals and the Austrian welfare state was carried out: to what extent are foreign nationals net-contributors or net-receivers? In 2016 and 2017, SORESI was updated to 2016 and 2017 policy rules (incl. the tax reform 2015/16 and the child care benefit account for births from March 2017 on) using the latest input data (in 2017: SILC 2015 with incomes for 2014).
On 4 and 5 December Michael Fuchs and Katrin Gasior participated in the European Commission Peer Review "The political adequacy of quantitative impact assessment in the social field using micro-simulation models" where they presented the web-model. The background paper (host country paper), the discussion paper by Holy Sutherland as well as the comments prepared by Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands and the stakeholder representative from SOLIDAR can be found here.
Is the aim of the reform - to reduce the tax burden for all employees - achieved? Who profits the most? Katrin Gasior carried out an ex ante evaluation of the Austrian tax reform that is currently discussed by the Ministers. The analysis uses SORESI and shows the effects of the measures on the income distribution and poverty rate. The working paper shows results by income quintiles and for different household types. It furthermore discusses how the Europe 2020 social target group is effected by the reform.
Simulation of an application of the German Hartz-IV reform in Austria: The report presents the fiscal implications together with the distributional effects and the impact on risk of poverty of a similar reform in Austria. Specifically, this would imply: after expiration of unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld), minimum income benefit (Bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung) as social assistance type benefit would replace the means-tested insurance benefit unemployment assistance (Notstandshilfe) as follow-up benefit. Three different main scenarios are calculated using the tax-/benefit microsimulation models EUROMOD and SORESI based on latest national EU-SILC data from 2015. The findings were also published in Public Sector Economics 4/2017.
