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The Welfare Cost of Means-Testing: Pensioner Participation in Income Support

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Author Info
Pudney, Stephen (University of Leicester)
Monica Hernandez
Ruth Hancock

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Abstract

We estimate parametric and semi-parametric binary choice models of benefit take-up by British pensioners and use a revealed preference argument to infer the cash-equivalent value of disutility arising from stigma or complexity of the claims process. These implicit costs turn out to be relatively small, averaging about £2-4 per week across Income Support recipients. Using the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke measure of poverty among pensioners, we find that allowing for implicit claim costs incurred by benefit recipients raises the measured degree of poverty by not more than 16%.

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Paper provided by Royal Economic Society in its series Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 with number 171.

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Date of creation: 04 Jun 2003
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Handle: RePEc:ecj:ac2003:171

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Related research
Keywords: benefit take-up; program participation; pensions; welfare; poverty;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models
D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Keane, Michael & Moffitt, Robert, 1998. "A Structural Model of Multiple Welfare Program Participation and Labor Supply," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(3), pages 553-89, August.
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  2. Ruth Hancock & Geraldine Barker, 2005. "The quality of social security benefit data in the British Family Resources Survey: implications for investigating income support take-up by pensioners," Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 168(1), pages 63-82. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Halpern, Janice & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Choice under uncertainty: A model of applications for the social security disability insurance program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 131-161, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-66, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Klein, Roger W & Spady, Richard H, 1993. "An Efficient Semiparametric Estimator for Binary Response Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(2), pages 387-421, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Duclos, Jean-Yves, 1995. "Modelling the take-up of state support," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 391-415, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-35, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Olivier Bargain & Herwig Immervoll & Heikki Viitamäki, 2007. "How Tight are Safety-Nets in Nordic Countries? Evidence from Finnish Register Data," Working Papers 200712, School Of Economics, University College Dublin. [Downloadable!]
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  2. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  3. David Coady & Cesar Martinelli & Susan Parker, 2008. "Information and participation in a social program," Working Papers 0806, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sanjit Dhami & Ali al-Nowaihi, 2007. "Optimal income taxation in the presence of tax evasion: Expected utility versus prospect theory," Discussion Papers in Economics 07/10, Department of Economics, University of Leicester. [Downloadable!]
  5. Sanjit Dhami & Ali al-Nowaihi, 2005. "Why Do People Pay Taxes? Prospect Theory Versus Expected Utility Theory," Discussion Papers in Economics 05/23, Department of Economics, University of Leicester, revised Aug 2006. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Ewoudou, Jacques & Tsimpo, Clarence & Wodon, Quentin, 2009. "Stigma and the take-up of social programs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4962, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. David Coady & Susan Parker, 2009. "Targeting Social Transfers to the Poor in Mexico," IMF Working Papers 09/60, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  8. Peter Lynn & Annette Jäckle & Stephen P. Jenkins & Emanuela Sala, 2005. "The Effects of Dependent Interviewing on Responses to Questions on Income Sources," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 487, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  9. Coady, David P. & Parker, Susan W., 2005. "Program participation under means-testing and self-selection targeting methods," FCND discussion papers 191, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
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