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Social Policy Simulation Database and Model
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The Social Policy Simulation Database and Model (SPSD/M), Version 16.0 based on 2004 microdata, is now available. The most recent SPSD/M can be used to study the impacts of changes to federal and provincial tax and benefit programs on families and governments from 1991 through 2012.
The SPSD/M is a tool designed to analyze the financial interactions of governments and individuals/families in Canada. It allows estimation of the income redistributive effects or cost implications of changes in the personal taxation (including the goods and services tax and other commodity taxes) and cash transfer systems. The SPSD/M assists analysts examining the potential impacts of changes in taxes, earnings, demographic trends, and a wide range of other factors.
The SPSD/M allows analysts to answer "what-if" types of questions. What if there were changes to the taxes Canadians paid or transfers they received, who would gain and who would lose? Would single parent households in a particular province be better off? By how much? How much extra money would federal or provincial governments collect or pay out?
As its name implies, the SPSD/M is comprised of both a database (SPSD) and a model (SPSM). The SPSD is a statistically-representative database of individuals in their family context, with enough information on each individual to compute taxes paid to and cash transfers received from federal and provincial governments. It is created by statistically combining data from survey and administrative sources. The SPSM is a static accounting model, which processes each individual and family on the SPSD, calculates transfers and taxes (including income, payroll, and commodity taxes) using legislated or proposed programs and algorithms, and reports on the results. This microsimulation model can be run using a visual interface. Extensive documentation on both SPSD and SPSM is included.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3889.
The Social Policy Simulation Database and Model, Version 16.0, is now available on CD-ROM (89F0002XCB, $5,000/$12,500).
For more information, to order a copy, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Chantal Hicks (613-951-5311; spsdm@statcan.gc.ca), Socio-economic Analysis and Modeling Division.
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