 Facts and figures about UK taxes, benefits and public spending.
Analysing government fiscal forecasts and tax and spending.
Case studies that give a flavour of the areas where IFS research has an impact on society.
Reforming the tax system for the 21st century.
A peer-reviewed quarterly journal publishing articles by academics and practitioners.
Find out where you are in the income distribution.
Resources for schools and students.
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Understanding how consumers make decisions and what affects their behaviour is of key importance across a wide range of policy issues, from the analysis of indirect taxation to the assessment of competition policy. For example, the most recent developments in industrial organisation focus on how firms in imperfectly competitive markets interact, taking the structure of consumer demand as given. The nature of the equilibria that prevail in different markets depends crucially on the nature of consumer decisions.
Past research at IFS has played a leading role in the development of policy-relevant empirical models of consumer behaviour. Looking forward, our research will put the consumer at the heart of competition analysis by providing a rigorous characterisation of consumer behaviour. This is crucial for designing regulatory structures and the implementation of consumer and competition policy across many markets, from retailing to telecoms. Our research aims to develop the analysis of consumer decision-making in conjunction with the analysis of newly available Consumer Panel data. We study behaviour in Britain in detail but also engage in comparative research on similar data in Europe and North America. Price indices and measures of consumer welfare are fundamental inputs into many areas of policy, influencing benefit and state pension levels, and monetary policy, as well as private sector wage bargaining. Price indices vary for many reasons, including the types of goods purchased, where the purchases are made and the extent to which firms have market power. Obtaining useful price indices requires estimates of substitution possibilities and the value placed on new goods by consumers at different points in the income distribution. Demand responses are essential inputs in the design of indirect and environmental taxes. Price discrimination and the effective cost of living across different types of consumers are important for understanding the adequacy of levels of welfare benefits and pensions. The new Consumer Panel data open up an exciting new research agenda. Search
Richard Disney, Paul Johnson and Gary Stears
This paper examines the asset positions of households at and around retirement in Britain using the Retirement Survey 'waves' of 1988-89 and 1994.
Orazio Attanasio, James Banks and Sarah Tanner
Recent studies have explored the possibility that limited participation in asset markets,
In this paper we argue that only when one uses data and arguments relating to the life-time experiences of individuals or households within an economy can one understand recent trends and patterns in saving rates.
Tanner, S
James Banks and Sarah Tanner
As the government nears the end of a consultation process on charity taxation, this commentary considers some of the key issues in the debate. What are the economic arguments for tax relief? Is there any evidence that tax incentives have a big effect on individual donations? What has been the impact of tax incentives in the UK? What are so-called `US-style tax deductions’ and how might they work in the UK? What other reforms to the current system of tax relief might the government consider?
James Banks and Sarah Tanner
James Banks and Paul Johnson (eds)
This book presents the results of the analysis discussed at a conference in July 1996 for users and providers of Family Expenditure Survey Data
In this Commentary, the authors look at the likely effects that real year-by-year increases in road fuel duties will have on the use of cars by households and on their economic welfare, with particular attention to the distributional consequences.
James Banks, Andrew W Dilnot and Sarah Tanner
As the Government considers what form the ISA should take, this Commentary documents the current state of savings and, in particular, the current tax treatment of savings. In the light of the experience of TESSAs and PEPS, we also consider several key features that the new Individual Savings Account might have.
James Banks, Sarah Tanner and Steven Webb
In this paper we show how estimates of aggregate spending in the UK would be affected by using grossing weights that take account of the known dimensions of non-representativeness of the Family Expenditure Survey.
Browse publications & research
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 Started: 01 March 2008
Started: 01 May 2004
Started: 01 May 2004
Started: 01 January 2004
Started: 01 January 2004
   IFS researchers found that the Saving Gateway was not the best way to support lower income families; government acted on this advice.
In light of Government objectives to increase environmental taxation, we investigate whether the UK tax system is becoming more or less ‘green’.
IFS researchers have monitored the extent to which some households experience higher rates of inflation than others.
IFS researchers have evaluated whether the temporary VAT cut was able to boost the economy effectively.
Government departments used IFS research to inform decision-marking about a temporary cut in VAT.
Methods developed at IFS for measuring wealth were instrumental in establishing a detailed government dataset about assets and debt in Britain.
IFS researchers present and discuss new research on retirement saving with a group of business leaders and policy makers.
IFS develops data on food prices and nutrition to build capacity for policy-relevant social science research.
In a tough economic climate IFS looks at how households are able to cope.
An IFS research fellow is leading an independent review into how to make automatic enrolment into workplace pensions operate best.
IFS researchers develop a model of the Mexican tax system that will be used by the Mexican Government analysts.
IFS researchers have investigated whether it is possible to measure the distributional impact of changes to spending on public services.
IFS researchers have investigated the relative merits of government policies designed to protect elderly households from the coldest winters.
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