Seminar in Economics | with Eva Vivalt
Welcome to this Higher Seminar in Economics organized by the Department of Economics, SSE. The seminar speaker is Eva Vivalt, University of Toronto who will present “The Employment Effects of a Guaranteed Income: Experimental Evidence from Two U.S. States”
Abstract
We study the causal impacts of income on a rich array of employment outcomes, leveraging an experiment in which 1,000 low-income individuals were randomized into receiving $1,000 per month unconditionally for three years, with a control group of 2,000 participants receiving $50/month. We gather detailed survey data, administrative records, and data from a custom mobile phone app. The transfer caused total individual income to fall by about $1,500/year relative to the control group, excluding the transfers. The program resulted in a 2.0 percentage point decrease in labor market participation for participants and a 1.3-1.4 hour per week reduction in labor hours, with participants’ partners reducing their hours worked by a comparable amount. The transfer generated the largest increases in time spent on leisure, as well as smaller increases in time spent in other activities such as transportation and finances. Despite asking detailed questions about amenities, we find no impact on quality of employment, and our confidence intervals can rule out even small improvements. We observe no significant effects on investments in human capital, though younger participants may pursue more formal education. Overall, our results suggest a moderate labor supply effect that does not appear offset by other productive activities.
More about the Speaker
The seminar takes place at Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65, room A336.
Please contact kathrine.abelson@hhs.se if you have any questions.