­
Norwegian

Distributional Effects of Welfare Reform for Young Adults: An Unconditional Quantile Regression Approach

Link to article:

[DOI] [PDF]

Authors:

Hernæs, Øystein M.

Year:

2020

Reference:

Labour Economics

Vol 65, August, 101818

Summary

The paper evaluates the distributional effects on earnings and income of requiring young welfare recipients to fulfill conditions related to work and activation. It exploits within-social insurance office variation in policy arising from a geographically staggered reform in Norway. The reform reduced welfare uptake and for women had large, positive effects in the lower part of the earnings distribution. The effect on the distribution of total income is also positive, thus gains in earnings more than offset reduced welfare benefits. Fewer welfare payments and smaller caseloads make the policy highly cost-effective.

JEL:

C21 D31 H55 I38 J18 J22

Keywords:

Social assistance, ActivationConditionality Welfare reform Labor supply Quantile treatment effects

Project:

Oppdragsgiver: NAV via ISF
Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: ISF: 10278 NAV:17-4667
Frisch prosjekt: 1423 - Mandatory activation for welfare recipients below age 30