TIME-INCONSISTENCY AND WELFARE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE NLSY

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fang, Hanming; Silverman, Dan
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; Duke University; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0020-6598
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2009.00559.x
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 1043-1077
• 关键词: job search; simulation; decisions; CHOICE; POLICY; MODEL

摘要

We empirically implement a dynamic structural model of labor supply and welfare program participation for agents with potentially time-inconsistent preferences. Using panel data on the choices of single women with children from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLSY) 1979, we provide estimates of the degree of time-inconsistency, and of its influence on the welfare take-up decision. With these estimates, we conduct counterfactual experiments to quantify a measure of the utility loss stemming from the inability to commit to future decisions, and the potential gains from commitment mechanisms such as welfare time limits and work requirements.