Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Palviainen Heikki
Author-Name-First: Heikki
Author-Name-Last: Palviainen
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University
Title: Incentivizing last-resort social assistance clients: Evidence from a Finnish policy experiment
Abstract: In 2002, the Finnish government introduced an earnings disregard experiment aimed
at improving the incentives of low-income individuals who receive last-resort social as-
sistance. The aim of the experiment was to reduce unemployment by providing social
assistance clients better incentives to receive at least temporary or part-time work. This
paper evaluates the employment effects of the experiment as an event study using coars-
ened exact matching (CEM) and difference-in-differences. On average, the results show
no employment effects, but there is some evidence on positive employment effects on
women.

Length: 23 pages
Creation-Date: 2021-10
Publication-Status:  
File-URL: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2181-9
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: Third version, 2021
Number: 2132
Classification-JEL: C93, H53, I38, J68
Keywords: Difference-in-differences, making work pay, earnings disregard, welfare
Handle: RePEc:tam:wpaper:2132