Microsimulation Report Components

Item Type	Title/Description	Report Context	Purpose/Use	Notes
Section	Executive Summary – concise overview of key objectives, assumptions and findings.	Policy evaluation; Technical documentation; (often public summary uses highlights)	Summarize main results and conclusions for quick reader insight.	Typically included (often page before Introduction).
Section	Abstract – brief summary of the report’s content.	Technical documentation; (sometimes policy evaluation)	Provide a standalone synopsis of aims, methods, and results.	Common in academic-style or formal reports.
Section	Acknowledgments – credits to contributors/funders.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Recognize contributors, data sources, funding.	Often included in formal reports.
Section	Introduction / Background – context, objectives, model overview.	All (Policy evaluation; Technical; Public)	Describe purpose of study, model background, policy context.	Always included; often outlines tax-benefit system and study scope.
Section	Literature/Policy Context – review of related work or policy motivation.	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Explain why the analysis is needed, cite precedents.	Optional; may appear as part of Introduction or standalone.
Section	Data and Assumptions – description of input microdata, population, adjustments.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Detail data sources (e.g. surveys, tax records) and any weighting or adjustments.	Common in model country reports and appendices (e.g. SILC data list).
Section	Model / Methodology – outline of model design, coding of tax-benefit rules.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Describe the microsimulation engine, tax/benefit rules coded, behavioral assumptions.	Included in technical manuals and country reports; may refer to programming or algorithms.
Section	Policy Scenarios – description of specific reform scenarios or counterfactuals.	Policy evaluation	Define counterfactual policy settings and scenarios tested.	Explicitly described before results (e.g. child benefit or tax changes).
Section	Results – Fiscal Impact – narrative on aggregate revenue and expenditure changes.	Policy evaluation	Explain overall budgetary effects of reforms (Δtaxes, Δbenefits).	May accompany tables/figures of revenue; often first part of results.
Section	Results – Distributional Impact – narrative on income, poverty, inequality effects.	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Interpret changes in incomes, poverty rates, inequality measures.	Often broken into sub-sections (e.g. by demographic group or decile).
Section	Results – Work Incentives – narrative on labor supply or METR outcomes.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Discuss changes in marginal/average tax rates and participation incentives.	Common in technical reports (e.g. “Work incentives” section).
Section	Discussion/Implications – interpretation of findings and policy relevance.	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Highlight how results inform policy decisions, limitations.	Sometimes combined with conclusions; often in policy reports.
Section	Conclusions – summary of findings and recommendations.	All (Policy; Technical; Public)	Recap main outcomes, policy implications, and suggest future work.	Always included at end.
Section	Limitations / Caveats – discuss model uncertainties and omissions.	All (especially Technical; Policy)	Acknowledge data/model limitations, e.g. missing behaviors or groups.	Often brief; not always explicitly labeled.
Section	References – bibliographic sources.	All	List citations of literature and data sources.	Standard in all formal reports.
Section	List of Figures and Tables – index of figures/tables.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Provide quick navigation to visual and tabular content.	Included if many figures/tables.
Appendix / Annex	Data Sources and Processing – detailed info on input data (e.g. survey datasets).	Technical documentation	Document datasets used, imputation or projection methods.	E.g. list of SILC datasets; typically Annex.
Appendix / Annex	Policy Parameters – full list of tax/benefit formulas, thresholds, rates.	Technical documentation	Provide complete policy rule specifications.	Sometimes as an annex (e.g. EUROMOD country reports).
Appendix / Annex	Model Code / Syntax (Options) – list of model input options or code (e.g. TaxBEN syntax).	Technical documentation	Reference for advanced users detailing software commands or options.	See TaxBEN Annex C (list of options).
Appendix / Annex	Supplementary Results – additional tables/figures not in main text.	Policy evaluation; Technical documentation	Include further breakdowns or alternative scenarios.	Optional; often for transparency and completeness.
Appendix / Annex	Validation Checks – comparison of simulated outputs with official stats.	Technical documentation	Verify model accuracy (e.g. tax revenue, benefit totals).	Commonly tables comparing model vs admin data.
Appendix / Annex	Glossary / Notation – definitions of terms and acronyms.	Public summary; Technical	Explain specialized terminology (e.g. METR, ARP).	Helpful for non-technical readers; may be in online docs (EUROMOD site) or report appendix.
Bullet list	Key Findings (bullet points) – list of main results or messages.	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Quickly convey top-line results to readers.	Often in introduction or summary (e.g. IPPR report).
Bullet list	Model Strengths / Features – list of capabilities or advantages.	Public summary; Technical	Emphasize model’s unique aspects (multi-country, open data).	Found in overviews of microsim models.
Bullet list	Use Cases / Applications – examples of policy questions the model can address.	Public summary; Policy evaluation	Illustrate model flexibility (e.g. income distribution, work incentives).	E.g. EUROMOD “what can it do?” list.
Figure	Model Structure Diagram – schematic of data flow and model modules.	Technical documentation	Illustrates components (tax calculator, microdata, interfaces).	Common in methodology sections (e.g. LOTTE model flow).
Figure	Tax/Benefit Impact by Income Decile – bar or line chart of net effect on each decile.	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Show how reform affects households across income distribution.	Very common in reform analysis.
Figure	Income Changes by Group – chart of changes in gross/disposable income by household type or decile.	Policy evaluation	Visualize distributional impact across demographic groups.	E.g. “changes in income by household type”.
Figure	Tax/Benefit Changes by Group – chart of changes in taxes paid and benefits received by group.	Policy evaluation	Show who pays more or gets more under reform.	Used in distributional analysis.
Figure	Poverty Rate Changes by Group – chart of reform effect on poverty by category (e.g. age).	Policy evaluation; Public summary	Highlight which groups exit/enter poverty due to policy.	E.g. “changes in poverty rate by household type”.
Figure	Baseline vs Counterfactual Poverty (Lorenz/Poverty curves) – pre/post simulation poverty or income curves.	Policy evaluation	Illustrate how taxes/benefits lift below-poverty incomes.	E.g. “poverty risk & role of benefits”.
Figure	Baseline vs Counterfactual Inequality (Gini) – income distribution or Gini comparison with/without taxes.	Policy evaluation	Show redistributive effect of tax-benefit system.	E.g. “Gini with/without policies”.
Figure	METR Distribution – histogram of Marginal Effective Tax Rates by income or employment status.	Technical documentation; Policy evaluation	Analyze work incentives distribution under current policy.	Standard in labor supply sections.
Figure	METR by Income Component – bar chart of average METR by types of income (wages, benefits).	Technical documentation	Compare work disincentives across different earnings components.	Common in reports on work incentives.
Figure	Model Output Visualizations (maps, interactive charts) – simplified graphics for public briefs.	Public summary	Convey key results in an accessible form (e.g. infographic of winners/losers).	Used in one-page briefs or news releases (no specific citation).
Table	Tax/Benefit Revenue Summary – simulation of total revenue/benefit spending by category.	Policy evaluation; Technical documentation	Report aggregate fiscal impact of policies.	E.g. “tax revenue by type”.
Table	Policy Reform Costing – summary of revenue and spending differences (e.g. ΔTaxes, ΔBenefits).	Policy evaluation	Quantify budgetary effect of a reform (often by scenario).	Common in evaluation tables.
Table	Distributional Statistics – summary of mean/median incomes, poverty rates, Gini, before/after reform.	Policy evaluation	Summarize key inequality/poverty measures to quantify effects.	Standard outcome table (e.g. ARP rates, Gini).
Table	Distributional Impact by Decile/Quintile – decile/quintile breakdown of income or tax changes.	Policy evaluation	Detail how each income group is affected.	Often shown as differences or percentage changes.
Table	Household/Group Definitions – description of categories (e.g. family types).	Policy evaluation	Clarify population subgroups used in analysis.	E.g. “Household type definitions”.
Table	Baseline Validation – compare simulated outputs (tax receipts, benefits) to official data.	Technical documentation	Validate model accuracy against known aggregates.	E.g. LOTTE “simulated vs admin”; EUROMOD vs EU-SILC.
Table	Behavioral Effects – break out direct vs behavioral impacts on revenue or labor supply.	Policy evaluation; Technical	Show how assumed elasticities alter results.	E.g. tax revenue with/without behavior.
Table	Elasticity Estimates – labor supply or participation elasticities from model.	Technical documentation	Document key parameters used or estimated.	LOTTE example with participation/hours elasticities.
Table	Self-Financing Ratios – revenue-change/income-change percentages for different policy changes.	Policy evaluation	Summarize fiscal return of reforms (static vs dynamic).	Used in policy design analysis.
Table	Input Data Sources – list of surveys and administrative data used in simulation.	Technical documentation	Provide provenance of microdata (e.g. EU-SILC year versions).	Often in Annex; EUROMOD list of SILC datasets.
Table	Model Adjustments Summary – details of non-take-up, compliance rates, regional modules.	Technical documentation	Document corrections applied to data/policies.	E.g. EUROMOD country adjustment notes.
Table	Calibration Targets – comparison of model aggregates to targets (e.g. total tax revenue).	Technical documentation	Show fit of micro-sim to macro benchmarks.	(Common in US tax model docs; no source given here.)
Box	Background Boxes – sidebars with definitions or context (e.g. “Tax wedge vs METR”).	Technical documentation; Public summary	Explain concepts or compare with other measures.	E.g. OECD boxes on METR indicators and RED index.
Box	Policy Descriptions – concise notes on each tax/benefit rule.	Technical documentation; Public	Summarize specific policy rules.	E.g. OECD Box: “policy descriptions”.

Sources: Examples drawn from tax-benefit microsimulation model documentation and evaluation reports (among others). The items above reflect common report elements across contexts (policy analysis, model technical reports, and public briefs).