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Universal basic income in a financial equilibrium

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  • Kim Weston

Abstract

Universal basic income (UBI) is a tax scheme that uniformly redistributes aggregate income amongst the entire population of an economy. We prove the existence of an equilibrium in a model that implements universal basic income. The economic agents choose the proportion of their time to work and earn wages that can be used towards consumption and investment in a financial market with a traded stock and annuity. A proportion of the earned wages is uniformly distributed amongst all agents, leading to interconnectedness of the agents' decision problems, which are already dependent on one another through the financial market. The decision problems are further entangled by Nash perceptions of labor; the agents respond to the labor choices of others and act upon their perceived income in their decision problems. The equilibrium is constructed and proven to exist using a backward stochastic differential equation (BSDE) approach for a BSDE system with a quadratic structure that decouples. We analyze the effects of a universal basic income policy on labor market participation, the stock market, and welfare. While universal basic income policies affect labor market participation and welfare monotonically, its effects on the stock market are nontrivial and nonmonotone.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Weston, 2026. "Universal basic income in a financial equilibrium," Papers 2601.07626, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2601.07626
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kim Weston & Gordan Žitković, 2020. "An incomplete equilibrium with a stochastic annuity," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 359-382, April.
    2. Peter O. Christensen & Kasper Larsen, 2014. "Incomplete Continuous-Time Securities Markets with Stochastic Income Volatility," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(2), pages 247-285.
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    5. Paul J. Gertler & Sebastian W. Martinez & Marta Rubio-Codina, 2012. "Investing Cash Transfers to Raise Long-Term Living Standards," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 164-192, January.
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    7. Kim Weston, 2024. "Existence of an equilibrium with limited participation," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 329-361, April.
    8. Tevzadze, Revaz, 2008. "Solvability of backward stochastic differential equations with quadratic growth," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 503-515, March.
    9. Bodie, Zvi & Merton, Robert C. & Samuelson, William F., 1992. "Labor supply flexibility and portfolio choice in a life cycle model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 16(3-4), pages 427-449.
    10. Xiao Chen & Jin Hyuk Choi & Kasper Larsen & Duane J. Seppi, 2023. "Price impact in Nash equilibria," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 305-340, April.
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