Why Launch a Basic Income Experiment

Loek Groot () and Paul de Beer
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Paul de Beer: WRR

Public Economics from EconWPA

Abstract: In this chapter we propose to launch a basic income experiment. The limitations of a real life experiment are entirely different from the limitations of economic models. There is a wide gap between what can be concluded from the existing literature concerning labour supply responses to non-labour income or from economic models and the information which is required to assess the economic (un)feasibility of such major reforms of social security as basic income or negative income tax schemes. Based on the extensively discussed New Jersey negative income tax experiments and the lessons drawn for any new experiment to be held in the future, the proposed experiment includes only those groups for which a basic income can be simulated relatively simply and without many costs and from which substantial and - taking the basic income discussion into consideration – relevant behavioural reactions can be expected. The insights obtained from the study of changes in behaviour of experimentals may thus constitute a complementary source of information compared to that obtained from economic models on the viability of basic income.

Keywords: basic; income; workfare; field; experiment; negative; income; tax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C9 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-04-14
Note: Type of Document - Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC - PC- TEX/UNIX Sparc TeX; to print on HP/PostScript/Franciscan monk; pages: 21; figures: request from author. This is a chapter of a book entitled "Basic Income and Unemployment"

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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0304003

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