Do Households Move to Obtain Higher Benefits? A "Natural Experiment" Approach

Gary Painter

No 8658, Working Paper from USC Lusk Center for Real Estate

Abstract: One of the chief concerns that US policy-makers have discussed in the recent welfarereform legislation is that individual states will engage in a "race to the bottom". In order to avoidoffering relatively generous welfare packages that would attract recipients, states would cutbenefits. While the notion that households move to achieve greater benefits is pervasive in thepopular press, research suggests that the number of households who move to obtain higherbenefits is small. Two separate events which occurred in Los Angeles, CA, and Toronto, ONprovide insight into the question of whether households will "chase benefits". In both cases,households were given the opportunity to receive greater housing benefits if they moved to adifferent geographic location. The results of this study suggest that few households move toobtain greater benefits even in situations where the potential gain to moving is quite large.

Keywords: Households; Welfare; TANF (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:luk:wpaper:8658

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