https://github.com/PolicyEngine/ai-inequality
Research examining how economic policies mediate AI's impact on income, consumption, and wealth distribution
https://github.com/PolicyEngine/ai-inequality
ai distributionanalysis economics microsimulation policy-analysis
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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Research examining how economic policies mediate AI's impact on income, consumption, and wealth distribution
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/PolicyEngine/ai-inequality
- Owner: PolicyEngine
- Created: 2025-10-09T22:29:26.000Z (6 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-02-17T22:14:17.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-02-18T04:20:34.925Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: ai, distributionanalysis, economics, microsimulation, policy-analysis
- Language: HTML
- Homepage: https://policyengine.github.io/ai-inequality/
- Size: 11.6 MB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 1
- Open Issues: 3
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: changelog_entry.yaml
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# AI and Distributional Policy Research
A PolicyEngine research initiative examining how economic policies mediate the relationship between AI-driven economic shocks and distributional outcomes.
## Overview
This microsite outlines PolicyEngine's interest in modeling the causal chain: **AI economic shocks → policy interventions → distributional outcomes** (income, consumption, wealth). Rather than forecasting AI's economic impacts or prescribing optimal policies, we provide a framework for analyzing how different policy responses shape distributional outcomes under AI-driven economic change.
## Research Questions
- How do economic policies (taxes, transfers, UBI proposals) mediate AI's impact on income, consumption, and wealth distribution?
- How would current policies vs. alternatives (UBI, expanded safety nets, capital taxation) differentially shape distributional outcomes under AI scenarios?
- What are the inequality, poverty, and work incentive effects of different policy responses to AI economic shocks?
- How do these mediation effects vary across regions, demographics, and AI trajectories?
## Key Features
This site includes:
1. **Research Overview**: The challenge, our approach, and why this matters
2. **Relevant Research**: Summary of academic work on AI economics, labor impacts, inequality, and microsimulation
3. **Policy Scenarios**: Different policy designs to evaluate (current policy, UBI, safety net expansion, capital taxation, hybrid approaches)
4. **Technical Requirements**: What's needed to conduct this research (scenario modeling, data, computational infrastructure, validation)
5. **Potential Stakeholders**: Organizations that might be interested in supporting or collaborating on this work
## Geographic Scope
While initial work would focus on the United States using [PolicyEngine-US](https://policyengine.org/us), this research framework could be expanded to:
- **United Kingdom** ([PolicyEngine-UK](https://policyengine.org/uk)) - fully operational
- **Canada** ([PolicyEngine-Canada](https://policyengine.org/ca)) - partially developed
- Other countries where PolicyEngine models are available
Cross-country comparisons would provide valuable insights into how different tax-benefit systems respond to AI-driven economic change.
## Development
### Prerequisites
- Node.js >= 22.0.0
- npm
### Installation
```bash
make install
```
Or:
```bash
npm ci
```
### Running the Development Server
```bash
make debug
```
Or:
```bash
npm start
```
The site will be available at `http://localhost:3000`.
### Building for Production
```bash
make build
```
Or:
```bash
npm run build
```
### Testing
```bash
make test
```
Or:
```bash
npm test
```
### Code Formatting
Before committing, always format your code:
```bash
make format
```
Or:
```bash
npm run lint -- --fix && npx prettier --write .
```
## Project Structure
```
ai-growth-research/
├── public/
│ └── index.html
├── src/
│ ├── components/
│ │ ├── Hero.js # Landing section
│ │ ├── Hero.css
│ │ ├── Overview.js # Research overview
│ │ ├── Research.js # Research summary
│ │ ├── PolicyScenarios.js # Policy scenarios
│ │ ├── TechnicalRequirements.js
│ │ ├── Stakeholders.js # Organizations
│ │ ├── Footer.js
│ │ └── Footer.css
│ ├── App.js # Main app component
│ ├── App.css
│ ├── index.js # Entry point
│ └── index.css
├── package.json
├── Makefile
└── README.md
```
## Live Site
**https://policyengine.github.io/ai-growth-research/**
The site automatically deploys to GitHub Pages on every push to `main`.
## Contributing
This is a PolicyEngine project. Please follow the guidelines in [CLAUDE.md](../CLAUDE.md) for development practices:
1. Use functional React components with hooks
2. Run `make format` before committing
3. Test your changes with `npm test`
4. Ensure linting passes with `npm run lint -- --max-warnings=0`
## Contact
Interested in collaborating on this research?
- Email: [hello@policyengine.org](mailto:hello@policyengine.org)
- Website: [https://policyengine.org](https://policyengine.org)
- GitHub: [https://github.com/PolicyEngine](https://github.com/PolicyEngine)
## License
AGPL-3.0
## About PolicyEngine
PolicyEngine is a nonprofit building open-source tax-benefit microsimulation models to make public policy more transparent, accessible, and impactful.