2021 SOUTHMOD workshop

On 24-25 May 2021, 35 participants from six different time zones and eleven different countries gathered for a two-day virtual SOUTHMOD workshop to exchange experiences and knowledge on tax-benefit microsimulation modeling in developing countries. 

The annual workshop brought together the representatives from eight different national teams in Africa, Latin America and Asia and the senior partners, the researchers from the University of Essex and SASPRI to share the lessons learnt in the process of building and developing the country models and discuss the future of the models.

The aim of the workshop was to enhance the South-South collaboration on the use of the models to understand the impacts of different policy choices. This year's workshop concentrated on the upcoming study assessing the distributional impact of COVID-19 pandemic in different SOUTHMOD countries.

About SOUTHMOD

The workshop was part of the UNU-WIDER project SOUTHMOD - simulating tax and benefit policies for development. Tax-benefit microsimulation models provide knowledge for better policy-making and inclusive development. With the models the effects of different policy scenarios on poverty, inequality, and government revenues can be analysed and compared.

SOUTHMOD project is part of UNU-WIDER's research and capacity building programme on domestic revenue mobilization (DRM), funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (Norad).