The main focus of the project will be on Africa where microsimulation models will be constructed for Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. These new models will complement existing models for South Africa (SAMOD) and Namibia (NAMOD), which are also based on EUROMOD and have been put together by SASPRI. To provide further comparability, a model will be built for one country from Latin America (Ecuador) and initial scoping for one country from Asia (Vietnam) will be undertaken.

In producing these new microsimulation models, the project aims to shed fresh light on the system-wide impacts of social protection and tax systems in these countries, providing the analytical tools for policy makers and researchers alike to understand the current tax-benefit systems and to be able to simulate the impacts of policy changes – real and potential.

Whilst oversight of SOUTHMOD remains with UNU-WIDER, ISER and SASPRI, engaging local teams of model developers in each country is critical to the project’s success. In addition to providing the technical platform for these models in the form of EUROMOD software and tools, ISER’s role is to support the Ghanaian and Ethiopian teams. ISER staff will also be involved in the training of all local developers, in producing new tools and software add-ons for analysing income distributions, and for the construction of the model in Ecuador.

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The project runs from 1 December 2015 until 31 January 2017.