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Abstract:
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In this paper we present the main data issues that were
confronted when the first wave of the National Income
Dynamics Study (NIDS) 2008 was adapted for use as
the micro-data underlying a recently developed static
tax-benefit micro-simulation model for South Africa
(SAMOD). NIDS is the first national household panel
survey in South Africa. SAMOD V1.1, which is based on
the EUROMOD platform, was initially underpinned by a
dataset derived primarily from the South African Income
and Expenditure Survey 2000 but additionally drew on
data from several other national surveys. As the NIDS
questionnaire is more comprehensive in scope than
the IES by, for example, containing questions about
intra-household relationships - it is better suited for
determining eligibility for some of the existing social
assistance arrangements such as the child support
grant.
Based on the NIDS micro-dataset, SAMOD simulated
plausible figures for eligibility for social assistance
and income tax liability. However, indirect forms of
taxation were not captured as well as in the IES-based
version of SAMOD. As the NIDS questionnaire includes
questions about receipt of grants, it was possible to
identify the extent to which individuals estimated to be
eligible for the grants using SAMOD overlapped with
respondents’ declared receipt, and how both sets of
figures compared to the reported figures of the South
African Social Security Agency. Similarly, simulated
and reported tax figures were compared against figures
from the National Treasury and South African Revenue
Service. In a small case study it is demonstrated how
SAMOD can be used to quantify the impact on poverty
and child poverty of a hypothetical new social grant for
low-income adults of working age. |