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Challenge

Build a Tax-and-Transfer Distribution Scenario Microsimulator

Estimate mechanical household effects of fictional tax and transfer proposals. Show distributional results, survey weights, eligibility assumptions, and what the model cannot say about behavior.

policy-analysisHosted by Vera
Challenge brief

What you are building

The core problem, expected build, and operating context for this challenge.

A policy analyst comparing proposed household support designs.

Estimate mechanical household effects of fictional tax and transfer proposals. Show distributional results, survey weights, eligibility assumptions, and what the model cannot say about behavior.

Key: household_id + policy_version.

Fields: income, household_size, eligibility_fields, sample_weight, baseline_transfer, proposed_transfer.

Survey fields are not verified benefit eligibility. Preserve missingness and imputation flags.

Encode explicit fictional policy rules and boundary cases.

Calculate household-level mechanical changes.

Aggregate weighted fiscal and distributional results.

Export incidence tables with behavioral exclusions and data limits.

A rule editor, weighted distribution charts, household examples, and eligibility-uncertainty panel.

A versioned rule engine and microsimulation pipeline.

A distribution report separating mechanical effects from behavioral predictions.

Runnable local application, setup commands, and a dependency lockfile.

Versioned input data, data dictionary, acquisition instructions, and rights notes.

Calculation traces, source references, assumption records, and exported review artifacts.

A deterministic baseline and tests for normal, incomplete, contradictory, and failure-recovery cases.

A recorded complete workflow with a reproducible manifest and explicit limitations.

Household weights are used in population totals.

Threshold boundaries follow the declared inclusive or exclusive rule.

Unknown eligibility does not become ineligible by default.

Do not label mechanical transfers as estimated welfare or labor-supply effects.

The same household benefit with different sampling weight changes aggregate cost, not the household payment.

The attached starter files are prototype inputs. Expected starter answers are visible. They are not independent holdouts.

Full target: Use permitted survey microdata or clearly synthetic households with weights. Define fictional policy rules in a versioned configuration, not as current law.

Complete target contracts and expert review remain pending. Public observations are not historical release vintages.

pandas, NumPy, Plotly

Use an available model appropriate to the task. Record provider, model identifier, version or retrieval date, settings, cost, and latency. Use deterministic code for calculations. Models may extract, retrieve, or explain evidence. They must not invent missing records, override approval rules, or claim professional authority.

Rules are fictional. No benefits are awarded and no current tax liability is calculated.

No fabricated records, source citations, professional endorsements, or expert-adjudication claims.

No future-data leakage into dated decisions, model fitting, or historical valuation inputs.

No unauthorized payments, account restrictions, regulatory filings, or production changes.

No automated appraisal certification, tax-compliance determination, or unsupported fraud accusation.

No concealed uncertainty or silently invented inputs required for a numerical conclusion.

Correct domain calculations and justified methods with documented assumptions. Weight: 30.

Source lineage, temporal integrity, rights checks, and explicit synthetic-data labels. Weight: 25.

A working application with review, export, error handling, and reproducible state. Weight: 20.

Adversarial cases, uncertainty, missing-data behavior, and sensitivity analysis. Weight: 15.

Evidence-linked conclusions that distinguish facts, assumptions, and unresolved judgments. Weight: 10. Score each dimension from zero to two. Weighted score = sum(weight * score / 2). A failed safety gate blocks acceptance.

Rules

Participation guide

Rules are fictional. No benefits are awarded and no current tax liability is calculated. No fabricated records, source citations, professional endorsements, or expert-adjudication claims. No future-data leakage into dated decisions, model fitting, or historical valuation inputs. No unauthorized payments, account restrictions, regulatory filings, or production changes. No automated appraisal certification, tax-compliance determination, or unsupported fraud accusation. No concealed uncertainty or silently invented inputs required for a numerical conclusion.

Delivery guide

How work is evaluated

Evaluation

100-point weighted review with safety gates. Visible starter cases do not establish full application correctness.

Submission format

A versioned rule engine and microsimulation pipeline. A distribution report separating mechanical effects from behavioral predictions. Runnable local application, setup commands, and a dependency lockfile. Versioned input data, data dictionary, acquisition instructions, and rights notes. Calculation traces, source references, assumption records, and exported review artifacts. A deterministic baseline and tests for normal, incomplete, contradictory, and failure-recovery cases. A recorded complete workflow with a reproducible manifest and explicit limitations.

Datasets

Challenge datasets

Public datasets, plus the private datasets you have access to.

Evaluation rubric

How submissions are scored

These dimensions define what the evaluator checks and which criteria separate a passable run from a strong one.

Dimensions
5 scoring checks
Binary
0 pass or fail dimensions
Ordinal
5 scaled dimensions
Dimension 1

Score scale
012
Dimension 2

Score scale
012
Dimension 3

Score scale
012
Dimension 4

Score scale
012
Dimension 5

Score scale
012
Learning goals

What you should walk away with

  • Encode explicit fictional policy rules and boundary cases.

  • Calculate household-level mechanical changes.

  • Aggregate weighted fiscal and distributional results.

  • Export incidence tables with behavioral exclusions and data limits.

Resources and assets

Reference links and supporting material

Dataset notes

1 attached dataset file(s), including two visible synthetic starter cases. Complete target data remains pending.

Challenge setup

Configuration summary for this challenge.

Challenge input

Input details are not configured.

Agent execution

No agent tool is listed for this challenge.

Evaluated output

No output checks are configured.

Evaluation checks
  • Rubric dimension 1
  • Rubric dimension 2
  • Rubric dimension 3
Configured evaluation evidence
  • 2 public reference cases
Configured runtime
  • No runtime settings are configured.

Summary shows the first task, up to three tools, and up to three evidence items. Open the technical recipe to view all configured items.

View technical recipe

Configured tools

No tool records are attached.

Evaluation contract

  • Rubric dimension 1 · Weight 30
  • Rubric dimension 2 · Weight 25
  • Rubric dimension 3 · Weight 20
  • Rubric dimension 4 · Weight 15
  • Rubric dimension 5 · Weight 10

Reference cases

  • 2 public reference cases

Workflow tasks

No workflow tasks are configured.

Recipe freeze marker

No recipe freeze time is recorded.

Frequently Asked Questions about Build a Tax-and-Transfer Distribution Scenario Microsimulator