Search and Work in Optimal Welfare Programs
نویسندگان
چکیده
Many existing welfare programs (“work-first” programs) require participants to work, often in non-profit or public agencies, in exchange for cash benefits. Others (“job search-first” programs) emphasize private job-search and provide assistance in finding and retaining a durable employment. We study the optimal design of welfare programs when the principal/government cannot observe the agent’s search effort, but can actively facilitate the agent’s job search at some cost, and can mandate the agent to work on a “simple task.” Our main result is that when the generosity of the welfare program (i.e., its initial promised utility or available budget) is low, then the optimal program should be based on work activities. In contrast, when the generosity is high, the optimal program should be based on search –and search assistance– activities. JEL Classification: D82, H21, J24, J64, J65.
منابع مشابه
Optimal Welfare-to-Work Programs
A Welfare-to-Work (WTW) program is a scheme of government expenditures on “passive” (unemployment compensation, social assistance) and “active” (job search monitoring, training, wage subsidies) labor market policies targeted to the unemployed. This paper studies the optimal WTW program as a recursive contract between a cost-minimizing government and a worker whose human capital depreciates duri...
متن کاملOptimal Use of Labor Market Policies: The Role of Job Search Assistance
Optimal Use of Labor Market Policies: The Role of Job Search Assistance This paper studies the role of job search assistance programs in optimal welfare-to-work programs. The analysis is based on a framework, that allows for endogenous choice of benefit types and levels, wage taxes or subsidies, and activation measures such as monitoring and job search assistance for each period of unemployment...
متن کاملTo Train or Not To Train: Optimal Treatment Assignment Rules Using Welfare-to-Work Experiments
To Train or Not To Train: Optimal Treatment Assignment Rules Using Welfare-to-Work Experiments Abstract: Planners often face the especially difficult and important task of assigning programs or treatments to optimize outcomes. Using the recent welfare-to-work reforms as an illustration, this paper considers the normative problem of how administrators might use data from randomized experiments t...
متن کاملGuide to Social Work Intervention for Community Re-entry of Offenders With a History of Violence Against Individuals
Objective: The re-entry of offenders to the community after their imprisonment is a sensitive and important stage and should always be considered by governmental and non-governmental organizations. The proper transition from prison to the community occurs when rehabilitation and social reintegration programs are developed and implemented based on the real needs of individuals. Social work is on...
متن کامل