IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/1715.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Assistance to the Poor in a Federal System

Author

Listed:
  • Charles Brown
  • Wallace E. Oates

Abstract

This paper explores the roles of different levels of government in assisting the poor. Using a model with utility interdependence, the paper presents some theoretical results on how levels of poor relief vary with the extent of mobility of the poor under both centralized and decentralized systems of support. After surveying the relevant empirical work and the experience under the English Poor Laws, the paper argues for a basic role for central government in this function.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Brown & Wallace E. Oates, 1985. "Assistance to the Poor in a Federal System," NBER Working Papers 1715, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1715
    Note: LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w1715.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rebecca Blank, 1983. "Welfare, Wages and Migration, An Analysis of Locational Choice by Female-Headed Households," Working Papers 550, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    2. Blaug, Mark, 1963. "The Myth of the Old Poor Law and the Making of the New," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 151-184, June.
    3. Richard J. Cebula, 2009. "Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 541-551, April.
    4. Cebula, Richard, 1973. "Interstate Migration and the Tiebout Hypothesis: An Analysis According to Race, Sex, and Age," MPRA Paper 49827, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Feb 1974.
    5. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    6. Peltzman, Sam, 1980. "The Growth of Government," Working Papers 1, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    7. Rishi Kumar, 1977. "More on nonwhite migration, welfare levels, and the political process," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 151-154, December.
    8. Orr, Larry L, 1976. "Income Transfers as a Public Good: An Application to AFDC," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(3), pages 359-371, June.
    9. David E. Kaun, 1970. "Negro Migration and Unemployment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 5(2), pages 191-207.
    10. Edward M. Gramlich & Deborah S. Laren, 1984. "Migration and Income Redistribution Responsibilities," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(4), pages 489-511.
    11. Rebecca M. Blank, 1983. "Welfare, Wages and Migration, An Analysis of Locational Choice by Female-Headed Households," Working Papers 550, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    12. Edward M. Gramlich, 1982. "An Econometric Examination of the New Federalism," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 13(2), pages 327-370.
    13. repec:fth:prinin:170 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Pauly, Mark V., 1973. "Income redistribution as a local public good," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 35-58, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Howard Chernick, 1998. "Fiscal Effects of Block Grants for the Needy: An Interpretation of the Evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 5(2), pages 205-233, May.
    2. Robert Moffitt, 1999. "Explaining Welfare Reform: Public Choice and the Labor Market," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(3), pages 289-315, August.
    3. Daniel E. Ingberman & Robert P. Inman, 1987. "The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy," NBER Working Papers 2405, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Richard Cebula & K. Avery, 1983. "The Tiebout hypothesis in the United States: An analysis of black consumer-voters, 1970–75," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 307-310, January.
    5. Moffitt, Robert & Ribar, David & Wilhelm, Mark, 1998. "The decline of welfare benefits in the U.S.: the role of wage inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 421-452, June.
    6. Richard J. Cebula, 2009. "Migration and the Tiebout‐Tullock Hypothesis Revisited," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 541-551, April.
    7. William Sander & J. Giertz, 1986. "The political economy of state level welfare benefits," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 209-219, January.
    8. Smith, Mark W, 1999. "Should we expect a race to the bottom in welfare benefits? Evidence from a multistate panel, 1979-1995," MPRA Paper 10125, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Farnham, Martin & Sevak, Purvi, 2006. "State fiscal institutions and empty-nest migration: Are Tiebout voters hobbled?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 407-427, February.
    10. Steiner, Susan, 2005. "Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction: A Conceptual Framework for the Economic Impact," GIGA Working Papers 3, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    11. Berthold, Norbert & Fricke, Holger, 2009. "Die Bundesländer im Standortwettbewerb," Discussion Paper Series 106, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    12. Berthold, Norbert & Fricke, Holger, 2003. "Deutschland im Herbst 2003 - blockierter Standortwettbewerb der Bundesländer," Discussion Paper Series 69, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    13. Hendel, Ulrich, 2012. "The Influence of Altruistic Preferences on the Race to the Bottom of Welfare States," Discussion Papers in Economics 13999, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    14. Parviainen, Seija, 1998. "Redistribution and Risk Sharing in EMU," Discussion Papers 159, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Michael Craw, 2015. "The Effect of Fragmentation and Second-Order Devolution on Efficacy of Local Public Welfare Policy," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 45(2), pages 270-296.
    16. Pauline Leung, 2021. "State Responses to Federal Matching Grants: The Case of Medicaid," Working Papers 647, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    17. Saavedra, Luz Amparo, 2000. "A Model of Welfare Competition with Evidence from AFDC," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 248-279, March.
    18. Leung, Pauline, 2022. "State responses to federal matching grants: The case of medicaid," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    19. Thomas A. Husted, 1990. "Micro-Based Examination of the Demand for Income-Redistribution Benefits," Public Finance Review, , vol. 18(2), pages 157-181, April.
    20. Keith Dowding & Peter John & Stephen Biggs, 1994. "Tiebout : A Survey of the Empirical Literature," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(4-5), pages 767-797, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1715. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.