Leaving Poverty Behind? The Effects of Generous Income Support Paired with Activation

Simen Markussen and Knut Røed (knut.roed@frisch.uio.no)

No 8245, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We evaluate a comprehensive activation program in Norway targeted at hard-to-employ social assistance claimants with reduced work capacity. The program offers a combination of tailored rehabilitation, training and job practice, and a generous, stable, and non-means-tested benefit. Its main aims are to mitigate poverty and subsequently promote self-supporting employment. Our evaluation strategy exploits a geographically staggered program introduction, and the causal effects are identified on the basis of changes in employment prospects that coincide with local program implementation in a way that correlates with the predicted probability of becoming a participant. We find that the program raised employment prospects considerably.

Keywords: treatment effects; social insurance; vocational rehabilitation; poverty; program evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 C26 H55 I30 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2014-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ias and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2016, 8 (1), 180–211

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Journal Article: Leaving Poverty Behind? The Effects of Generous Income Support Paired with Activation (2016)
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