Merge pull request PSLmodels#1813 from martinholmer/ubi-names

Revise three UBI policy parameter names
willrichens · Jan 11, 2018 · 9cef508 · 9cef508
2 parents c18f61f + 899f399
commit 9cef508
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Showing 4 changed files with 14 additions and 9 deletions.
diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ for a complete commit history.
 - Make objects embedded in a Calculator object private and provide Calculator class access methods to manipulate the embedded objects
   [[#1791](https://github.com/open-source-economics/Tax-Calculator/pull/1791)
   by Martin Holmer]
+- Rename three UBI policy parameters to be more descriptive
+  [[#1813](https://github.com/open-source-economics/Tax-Calculator/pull/1813)
+  by Martin Holmer as suggested by Max Ghenis]
 
 **New Features**
 - Add `--outdir` option to command-line `tc` tool

diff --git a/taxcalc/current_law_policy.json b/taxcalc/current_law_policy.json
@@ -5784,7 +5784,7 @@
         "out_of_range_action": "stop"
     },
 
-    "_UBI1": {
+    "_UBI_u18": {
         "long_name": "UBI benefit for those under 18",
         "description": "UBI benefit provided to people under 18.",
         "section_1": "Universal Basic Income",
@@ -5814,7 +5814,7 @@
         "out_of_range_action": "stop"
     },
 
-    "_UBI2": {
+    "_UBI_1820": {
         "long_name": "UBI benefit for those 18 through 20",
         "description": "UBI benefit provided to people 18-20 years of age.",
         "section_1": "Universal Basic Income",
@@ -5844,7 +5844,7 @@
         "out_of_range_action": "stop"
     },
 
-    "_UBI3": {
+    "_UBI_21": {
         "long_name": "UBI benefit for those 21 and over",
         "description": "UBI benefit provided to people 21 and over.",
         "section_1": "Universal Basic Income",

diff --git a/taxcalc/functions.py b/taxcalc/functions.py
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ def SSBenefits(MARS, ymod, e02400, SS_thd50, SS_thd85,
 
 
 @iterate_jit(nopython=True)
-def UBI(nu18, n1821, n21, UBI1, UBI2, UBI3, UBI_ecrt,
+def UBI(nu18, n1821, n21, UBI_u18, UBI_1820, UBI_21, UBI_ecrt,
         ubi, taxable_ubi, nontaxable_ubi):
     """
 
@@ -303,9 +303,9 @@ def UBI(nu18, n1821, n21, UBI1, UBI2, UBI3, UBI_ecrt,
     nu18: Number of people in the tax unit under 18
     n1821: Number of people in the tax unit age 18-20
     n21: Number of people in the tax unit age 21+
-    UBI1: UBI for those under 18
-    UBI2: UBI for those between 18 to 20
-    UBI3: UBI for those 21 or more
+    UBI_u18: UBI benefit for those under 18
+    UBI_1820: UBI benefit for those between 18 to 20
+    UBI_21: UBI benefit for those 21 or more
     UBI_ecrt: Fraction of UBI benefits that are not included in AGI
 
     Returns
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ def UBI(nu18, n1821, n21, UBI1, UBI2, UBI3, UBI_ecrt,
                     This is added to expanded income
 
     """
-    ubi = nu18 * UBI1 + n1821 * UBI2 + n21 * UBI3
+    ubi = nu18 * UBI_u18 + n1821 * UBI_1820 + n21 * UBI_21
     taxable_ubi = ubi * (1. - UBI_ecrt)
     nontaxable_ubi = ubi - taxable_ubi
     return ubi, taxable_ubi, nontaxable_ubi

diff --git a/taxcalc/tests/test_calculate.py b/taxcalc/tests/test_calculate.py
@@ -891,7 +891,9 @@ def test_distribution_tables(cps_subsample):
     dt1, dt2 = calc1.distribution_tables(calc1)
     assert isinstance(dt1, pd.DataFrame)
     assert isinstance(dt2, pd.DataFrame)
-    reform = {2014: {'_UBI1': [1000], '_UBI2': [1000], '_UBI3': [1000]}}
+    reform = {2014: {'_UBI_u18': [1000],
+                     '_UBI_1820': [1000],
+                     '_UBI_21': [1000]}}
     pol.implement_reform(reform)
     assert not pol.reform_errors
     calc2 = Calculator(policy=pol, records=recs)