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Intentional and Unintentional Effects of Safety Net Programs

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 7
Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Adriana Lleras-Muney, University of California-Los Angeles

Multi-generational Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net: Early Life Exposure to Medicaid and the Next Generation's Health

Chloe East
,
University of Colorado Denver
Sarah Miller
,
University of Michigan
Marianne Page
,
University of California-Davis
Laura Wherry
,
University of California-Los Angeles

Abstract

We examine multi-generational impacts of positive in utero and early life health
interventions using state-year variation in public health insurance expansions that
targeted low-income pregnant women and children. We use restricted use Vital
Statistics Natality files to create a unique dataset linking individuals’ childhood
Medicaid exposure to the next generation’s health outcomes at birth. We find
robust evidence that the health benefits associated with treated generations’ early
life access to Medicaid extend to later offspring’s birth outcomes. Our results
imply that the return on investment is larger than suggested by evaluations of the
program that focus only on treated cohorts.

Does Elite Capture Matter? Local Elites and Targeted Welfare Programs in Indonesia

Vivi Alatas
,
World Bank
Abhijit Banerjee
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rema Hanna
,
Harvard University
Benjamin Olken
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ririn Purnamasari
,
World Bank
Matthew Wai-Poi
,
World Bank

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of elite capture on the allocation of targeted government welfare programs in Indonesia, using both a high-stakes field experiment that varied the extent of elite influence and non-experimental data on a variety of existing government transfer programs. Conditional on their consumption level, there is little evidence that village elites and their relatives are more likely to receive aid programs than non-elites. However, this overall result masks stark differences between different types of elites: those holding formal leadership positions are more likely to receive benefits, while informal leaders are less likely to receive them. We show that capture by formal elites occurs when program benefits are actually distributed to households, and not during the processes of determining who should be on the beneficiary lists. However, while elite capture exists, the welfare losses it creates appear small: since formal elites and their relatives are only 9 percent richer than non-elites, are at most about 8 percentage points more likely to receive benefits than non-elites, and represent at most 15 percent of the population, eliminating elite capture entirely would improve the welfare gains from these programs by less than one percent.

Impacts of Job Search Assistance and Training on Earnings and Tax Outcomes

Day Manoli
,
University of Texas-Austin
Ankur Patel
,
U.S. Treasury Department

Abstract

This project examines how labor market programs related to job search assistance and training impact earnings and tax outcomes. The project is based on randomized controlled trials that provided job search assistance and training to treated participants. We focus on evidence on the impacts of these programs from administrative tax data. In particular, we review evidence on short- and long-term impacts of these programs on earnings and employment, as well as evidence examining the impacts of changes in employment and earnings on tax filing and other tax outcomes.
Discussant(s)
Amanda Kowalski
,
University of Michigan
Samuel Bazzi
,
Boston University
Adriana Lleras-Muney
,
University of California-Los Angeles
JEL Classifications
  • I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
  • H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue