On a sunny Tuesday afternoon in Freiburg, Professor Toru Yamamori presented his paper as part of his guest stay at FRIBIS: Is a penny a month a basic income? A historiography of a threshold in basic income to the members of FRIBIS, as well as external interested listeners. The professor of economics at Doshisha University in Kyoto won the essay prize of the renowned journal Basic Income Studies for this paper for the second time.

As part of his work as co-chair of the BIEN working group on the clarification of basic income definitions, Toru Yamamori posed the question of whether a threshold for basic income should be included in the definition of basic income and gave an overview of the development of implicit and explicit definitions of basic income. The lecture, with the title kindly adapted to the German audience Is a cent a month a basic income? was followed by a lively discussion that continued into the evening hours during the subsequent joint dinner. We would like to thank Professor Toru Yamamori for his stimulating lecture, the professionally exciting and pleasant conversations during his stay and his work for the FRIBIS Gender Team, which after years of online meetings could finally meet partly in person.

How was your stay in Freiburg/at FRIBIS?

It was really great. I have been in UBI and Gender research team and have known Jessica and Clem for a few years, but this is the first time to meet them in person. Also, the head of FRIBIS, Prof. Neumärker, and the people in FRIBIS are friendly and made me feel like I am at a home institution.

What suprised you or you expected as a reaction to your lecture?

People listened to my lecture attentively and gave me important feedback. It is a shame I could not stay longer to communicate more, but I would like to come back to Freiburg again.

During the interactive exchange, possible approaches to mitigate undesirable effects of the above-mentioned problem areas were discussed. For example, Dr. Sologon shed light on the impact of inflation within Europe, pointing out that the inflation rate is higher for lower income groups because they consume a larger share of their income. This regressive effect, i.e., the higher burden on lower-income households, is also observed with the CO2 tax. According to Prof. Neumärker, this effect could be mitigated or eliminated if the resulting tax revenues were returned to the population through a so-called partial basic income. Dr. Tanja Kirn drew a parallel with the effects of rising health care costs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Here, too, a regressive burden effect is evident, she said. However, moving away from the concept of a uniform premium would mean a change in the system.

In order to find politically viable and economically sustainable solutions, detailed microsimulation analyses are necessary – a research area in which all researchers involved are active. The new Erasmus+ research project ecoMOD (Project: 2023-1-LI01-KA220-HED-000157594), in which Prof. Dr. Neumärker from the University of Freiburg/FRIBIS is involved as a project partner, aims to further develop existing models and strengthen the analytical skills of young scientists and students. The event took place within the framework of the ERASMUS Days, which raise awareness across Europe of the activities of ERASMUS+ projects co-funded by the European Commission.

Starting in October 2023 and continuing monthly on every 3rd Thursday, join us for a global exploration of Universal Basic Income (UBI) politics, hosted by the Bath UBI Beacon and Freiburg Institute of Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS), in partnership with the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN). Experts from around the world will share insights on UBI policy, movement building, and research.

Hosted by the new Bath UBI Beacon and Freiburg Institute of Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS) through their Experiments Team collaboration, this online seminar series will invite people engaged in policy experimenting, movement building, research and activism from every corner of the globe to present their work and experience and reflect on what this means for the politics of basic income. Speakers will cover topics as diverse as experimentation, legislative processes, managing the media, fundraising, coalition building, community outreach and public opinion. The seminars will be open to all who have an interest in basic income and social policy more widely and will have a sizeable Q&A, allowing for discussion and debate. Seminars will be recorded and posted online afterwards.

Events will be scheduled for 90 mins and chaired alternately by Drs. Neil Howard and Joe Chrisp. If the event has a main speaker, presentations will last roughly 20 minutes followed by an hour of Q&A. For panels of 2-3 speakers, presentations will last 10 minutes each followed by an hour Q&A.

📅 Schedule (tentative):

Oct 2023             #PayTheGrants: The Universal Basic Income Guarantee in South Africa.

Nov 2023            How to Grow a Movement: The Importance of Strategic Funding & the Case of the US.

Dec 2023            What has happened in Catalunya?

Jan 2024             Basic Income and Reparations. Movement for Black Lives.

Feb 2024            Basic Income, De-Growth and Climate Politics.

Mar 2024           International Aid and the Politics of Unconditional Cash.

Apr 2024            UBI and UK Party Politics.

May 2024           UBI in CEE countries: Attention, Strategies and Reforms.

Jun 2024             How Much Public Support for Basic Income Is There?

Jul 2024              The Case of Marica in Brazil.

Aug 2024            The Case of India.

Sep 2024            The Policy Impact of Basic Income Experiments.

Oct 2024             The Case of Canada: Ontario, Climate Action Incentive Payment and COVID.

Nov 2024            What Happened in Iran?

Dec 2024            Welsh Pilot Results and Where from Here?

Jan 2025             UBI and Trades Unions.

Starting in autumn 2023, a new research project named ecoMOD will be launched under the coordination of FRIBIS member Dr. Tanja Kirn. The goal is to evaluate policy options for a resilient society. Central to this are the effects of demographic change on old-age security, the causes of poverty and inequality and the possibilities of recovering CO₂ tax revenues.

The research project is co-funded by the European Commission, under the Erasmus+ funding program. Project partners are prominent institutions such as the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER/Luxembourg), Freiburg University (Germany), NUI Galway (Ireland) and FPB Brussels / KU Leuven (Belgium).

Pensions – what reforms are needed to respond to demographic change?

Pay-as-you-go pension systems are coming under pressure from demographic change as life expectancy rises and fewer and fewer contributors are having to deal with more and more retirees. This raises the question of which reform options are most suitable. The spectrum ranges from an increase (coupling) in the statutory retirement age (to life expectancy), an age-dependent crediting of contribution years and thus a flexibilisation of retirement (and the pension amount), an increase in contribution rates, adjustment of survivors’ pensions, to an increase in incentives to work (beyond the statutory retirement age).

EcoMOD analyses the effects individual and combined reform measures have on future pension income. The project will also examine the effect of changes in labour force participation (e.g. an increase in the female labour force participation rate) on the pension system.

Poverty – what are the main causes of poverty and inequality?

The number of people permanently threatened by poverty has increased in Europe in recent years. One reason for this development is the rise in unemployment and the consequences of the financial crisis, which have led to lower household incomes in Europe. In addition, studies indicate that a university degree is no longer as strong a protection against poverty as it used to be. Instead, employment stability and good childcare facilities have played a more important role since the financial crisis. In addition, short- and long-term poverty reduction policies, such as those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy price crisis, seem to have become more important.

EcoMOD aims to improve existing simulation models that depict impacts of economic crises on income distribution. Modules from geographic information systems will also be added to the models to identify regional patterns and develop spatial economic indicators.

Environment – how can revenues from a CO₂ tax be refunded?

CO₂ taxes are considered the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions swiftly and comprehensively in order to combat climate change. However, CO₂ taxes are generally regressive, meaning that the percentage tax burden decreases as income increases. So low-income households tend to spend a higher proportion of their income on emissions-intensive goods and services than higher-income households.

For this reason, ecoMOD is investigating ways to make the CO₂ tax more progressive, e.g. by redistributing the revenue from the CO₂ tax in favour of low-income groups, by reducing property and employment taxes or introducing a climate premium.

Dialogue between policymakers, the public and academia.

In addition to the further development of teaching and research, another goal of the project is to promote dialogue between policymakers, the public and academia. Therefore, we will use different information channels (print and online media) to inform the public about the project. The interim results will be presented at a conference in winter 2024/25 at the University of Liechtenstein. In addition, we will provide ongoing information about the project through evening lectures, blogs and podcasts.

Contributing Researchers

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Neumärker; Projectleader Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Dr. Tanja Kirn, Ass.-Prof.; Projectcoordinator & Projectleader Universität Liechtenstein

Dr. Denisa Solognon; Projectleader LISER – Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research

Prof. Cathal O’Donoghue; NUI Galway (contractual partner)

Dr. Gijs Dekkers; FPB Brussels, KU Leuven (associated partner)

Dr. Philippe Liégeois, LISER – Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research

Project: 2023-1-LI01-KA220-HED-000157594

Lisa Reuter, who has been working as a Postdoc at FRIBIS since October 2022, has received the Erasmus Prize for the Liberal Arts and Sciences (€3,500) for her dissertation in psychology. The prize is awarded annually in two categories by the University College Freiburg. Her cumulative PhD thesis at the Institute of Psychology and the Cluster of Excellence, Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS). It is entitled Bridging over the Troubled Waters of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods: Exploring Cognitive-Affective Maps in Empirical Research

In the field of basic income, Lisa Reuter is particularly interested in questions of social redistribution, socio-political narratives, conceptualizations of society and humankind, socio-ecological transformation, the commons and interdisciplinary research approaches.

Lisa Reuter’s PhD thesis: Limits and possibility of the method of Cognitive Affective Maps (CAMs).

“In her cumulative doctoral thesis at the Institute of Psychology and the University of Freiburg Cluster of Excellence “Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems” (livMatS), Dr. Lisa Reuter investigated the possibilities and limits of “Cognitive Affective Maps” (CAMs), a method developed by Paul Thagard. CAMs are maps that depict the content of a person’s or group’s belief system in the shape of visual networks, allowing them to be assessed as positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent. This methodological approach is used in mixed methods research. Reuter applied CAMs to three different case studies and analysed the results. In her work, she used software that allows an individual to easily visualise experiences and impressions on a given topic – thereby making use of larger and standardised CAM data sets possible.

With the aid of CAMs, Reuter examined whether the cognitive-affective perceptions of the corona pandemic were altered by taking regular walks. A cross-sectional study that included participants from Germany and Canada was dedicated additionally to the perceived threat of the coronavirus. In a third study, Reuter investigated how the reproduction of natural phenomena is perceived during the development of new technologies. She also combined psychological and philosophical approaches in this work. Reuter cooperated with partners in political science and philosophy in her studies. She has arrived at the result that computer-aided applications of CAMs create bridges between qualitative and quantitative methods, adding that precisely during interdisciplinary work they unify of the advantages of both approaches.”

Source: Office of University and Science Communications, Freiburg University

Following her keynote at this year’s FRIBIS annual conference, Almaz Zelleke, professor of Practice in Political Science at NYU Shanghai, and member of the FRIBIS team UBI and Gender, remains at FRIBIS for two weeks as a visiting professor. During her stay, she will give a workshop to FRIBIS PhD students on the topic how to Make the Best of Academic Conferences and share ideas with them about their research projects. After the visit of Prof. Dr. Toru Yamamori in September, the FRIBIS Gender team is particularly excited to have the opportunity to meet another team member in person and further engage in the exploration of UBI from a gender perspective.

Prof. Dr. Almaz Zelleke is a Professor of Practice in Political Science at NYU Shanghai. She specializes in UBI, including gender, political theory and public policy, feminist political theory, and comparative political economy. Her articles on basic income, distributive justice, welfare policy, and feminist political theory have been published in Basic Income Studies, Political Quarterly, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Policy and Politics, Review of Social Economy, Journal of Socio-Economics, and Political y Sociedad. Lives in NYC, USA.