The £600 billion problem awaiting the next government podcastWe speak to David Gauke and Giles Wilkes, two experts who have been at the heart of the spending review process.25 April 2024
Be the Chancellor Our interactive tool lets you be the Chancellor. Change spending plans, set tax policies and see how your choices impact borrowing and debt.
Should we worry about government debt? podcastDavid Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy. 11 April 2024
IFS Annual Lecture - Innovation and productivity policies: a budgetary perspective event 15 May 2024 Professor Heidi Williams (Dartmouth College) will deliver the 2024 IFS Annual Lecture on innovation and productivity policies.
Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options conference 14 May 2024 This one-day academic conference will look at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.
Jobs landing pageAt IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
Labour markets, families and human capital: A workshop in honour of Costas Meghir Workshop 3 May 2024 at 09:30 This one day workshop will celebrate the many contributions to economics of Professor Costas Meghir.
Evaluating pricing health insurance in lower-income countries: A field experiment in India Working Paper We conducted a large-scale, 4-year trial that randomized premiums and subsidies for India’s first national, public hospital insurance program, RSBY. 14 March 2024
Does the value-added tax add value? Lessons using administrative data from a diverse set of countries Journal article We draw on firm-level administrative VAT records from 11 countries at different income levels to examine the functioning of real-world VAT systems. 9 February 2024
Three ways to improve the design of the UK’s overseas aid spending target Comment The UK spent £12.8 billion on aid in 2022. But the way the budget is managed can lead to perverse outcomes. There is definite room for improvement. 18 January 2024
Distributional analysis of Ghana’s tax system Report This report analyses the distributional impacts of Ghana’s direct and indirect tax systems using the GHATAX microsimulation model. 18 December 2023
Gender inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean Report This chapter examines gender inequality focusing on two critical spheres in which gender inequality is generated: education and work. 12 December 2023
Social proximity and misinformation: Experimental evidence from a mobile phone-based campaign in India Working Paper We study how social proximity between the sender and the receiver of information shapes the effectiveness of preventive health behaviour campaigns. 7 December 2023
Cost-sharing in medical care can increase adult mortality: Evidence from Colombia Working Paper To our knowledge, this study is the first to show a relationship between cost-sharing and adult mortality risk in a low- or middle-income country. 6 December 2023
Public service delivery, exclusion and externalities: Theory and experimental evidence from India Working Paper This paper provides novel evidence on the trade-off between public service delivery and free riding in low- and middle-income countries. 15 November 2023
The long view: how tax expenditures affect revenue over multiple years Comment Timing differences (loss carry-forward and accelerated depreciation) mean that tax expenditures can have long-lasting effects. 29 March 2023
Increasing the adoption of safe sanitation infrastructure: Evidence from India Comment Labeled microcredit loans increase the take-up of safe toilets, but take-up and conversion are influenced by intra-household gender differences. 22 March 2023
Three key takeaways from our TaxDev Tax Expenditures Workshop Comment Tax expenditure reporting is vital but challenging – this briefing covers three key takeaways from a recent workshop on the topic. 17 March 2023
How a tax exemption can increase revenues Comment Tax exemptions must surely reduce revenues, right? This briefing explains why that’s not always true for VAT. 17 March 2023
Effective tax rates and firm size Comment There is a general perception that firms pay less tax than the statutory tax rates would suggest 14 March 2023
Community matters: Heterogeneous impacts of a sanitation intervention Journal article We study the effectiveness of a widely adopted participatory community-level information intervention aimed at improving sanitation. 8 February 2023
Who benefits from free health insurance: evidence from Mexico Working Paper We present a comprehensive evaluation of the health impacts of the introduction & expansion of the Seguro Popular health insurance program in Mexico. 6 February 2023
Effective Tax Rates and Firm Size Working Paper This paper provides novel evidence on the relationship between firm size and effective corporate tax rates. 1 February 2023
Sustaining behavioural change: Evidence from rural Pakistan Comment Where community interventions lead to behaviour change, continued interactions are needed to help people maintain healthy behaviours. 27 January 2023
To invest or not to invest in sanitation: the role of intra-household gender differences in perceptions and bargaining power Working Paper We study how intra-household gender differences in perceptions of costs and benefits of sanitation impact investment decisions. 24 January 2023
Labeled loans and human capital investments Working Paper We provide rigorous evidence of the impacts of labelled microcredit on household sanitation investment and borrowing behaviour. 24 January 2023
