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

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  • Gary Painter

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Painter, 1999. "Do Households Move to Obtain Higher Benefits? A "Natural Experiment" Approach," Working Paper 8658, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    • Handle: RePEc:luk:wpaper:8658
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    File URL: http://lusk.usc.edu/sites/default/files/working_papers/wp_1999_112.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Households; Welfare; TANF;
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