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Welfare Stigma or Information Sharing? Decomposing Social Interactions Effects in Social Benefit Use

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Author Info
Ethan Cohen-Cole ()
Giulio Zanella ()

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Abstract

Empirical research has shown that social interactions affect the use of public benefits, thus providing evidence in favor of the idea of “welfare cultures.” In this paper we take the next crucial step by separately identifying the role of social stigma and information sharing in welfare participation, using Census data. We argue that the stigma vs. information distinction has possibly important consequences. Separate identification exploits the asymmetry between association and mere spatial proximity: we asume that while information is transmitted within groups, stigma works across groups as well. We also allow for heterogeneity of social effects across different race-ethnic groups and find non-trivial differences. We find that while the information channel is more important than stigma, White Americans appear to perceive stigma more from otherWhite Americans than by other races, and Black and Hispanic Americans appear to respond principally to stigma from external groups

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Siena in its series Department of Economics University of Siena with number 531.

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Date of creation: Mar 2008
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Handle: RePEc:usi:wpaper:531

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Related research
Keywords: social interactions; neighborhood effects; welfare stigma;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology

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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.:
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  10. Brock, William A. & Durlauf, Steven N., 2001. "Interactions-based models," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 54, pages 3297-3380 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Aizer, Anna & Currie, Janet, 2004. "Networks or neighborhoods? Correlations in the use of publicly-funded maternity care in California," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2573-2585, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Melvyn Weeks & Sriya Iyer, 2004. "Multiple social interactions and reproductive externalities: An investigation of fertility behaviour in Kenya," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 143, Econometric Society.
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  14. Ethan Cohen-Cole & Giulio Zanella, 2007. "Unpacking social interactions," Quantitative Analysis Unit Working Paper QAU07-4, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Assar Lindbeck & Sten Nyberg & Jšrgen W. Weibull, 1999. "Social Norms And Economic Incentives In The Welfare State," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(1), pages 1-35, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Charles F. Manski, 2004. "Social Learning from Private Experiences: The Dynamics of the Selection Problem," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 71(2), pages 443-458, 04. [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. Ethan Cohen-Cole & Burcu Duygan-Bump, 2008. "Household bankruptcy decision: the role of social stigma vs. information sharing," Quantitative Analysis Unit Working Paper QAU08-6, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
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