Dr. Qian Li graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is currently an assistant professor at Institute for Advanced Studies of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Her research expertise lies in macroeconomics, public finance and computational economics; research topics cover taxation theory, health economics, human capital accumulation, fertility models, real estate and RBC. The basic methodology is within the framework of high dimensional heterogeneous agents computational general equilibrium (CGE) model. Her work has been published in journals including Journal of Economic Dynamics, Economic Letters, B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics and etc.

We provide a quantitative evaluation of the impact of Universal Basic Income (UBI) on macroeconomic aggregates, inequality and welfare, exploring different levels of UBI generosity, paired with different strategies to finance it. We find that different levels of UBI can generate welfare improvements in the long-run, and that more generous UBI requires financing through consumption taxes. While welfare improvements are possible for individuals entering the steady state, the analysis of the transitional dynamics suggest generalized welfare losses for existing individuals, casting doubt on the desirability of such reforms. These losses are increasing in the level of generosity of UBI.
We provide a quantitative evaluation of the impact of Universal Basic Income (UBI) on macroeconomic aggregates, inequality and welfare, exploring different levels of UBI generosity, paired with different strategies to finance it. We find that different levels of UBI can generate welfare improvements in the long-run, and that more generous UBI requires financing through consumption taxes. While welfare improvements are possible for individuals entering the steady state, the analysis of the transitional dynamics suggest generalized welfare losses for existing individuals, casting doubt on the desirability of such reforms. These losses are increasing in the level of generosity of UBI.