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This paper studies the determinants of women's welfare outcome in microcredit programs. These determinants are in the form of different types of characteristics of women: their own characteristics (age, schooling etc) or the characteristics of the household or village they live in. Observed effects are often biased due to correlation between some explanatory variables and unobserved ability. As finding suitable instruments of the endogenous variables are often difficult, this study finds information about unobserved ability from the marriage market. It is found that incorporating estimates of women's unobserved characteristics alleviates the problem of endogeneity. Therefore, we gain a better and reliable understanding of women's performance in the microcredit programs by combining information from both marriage market and microcredit programs. JEL Classifications: D13, G21, J12, 016, Q12 Keywords: Microcredit, Determinants, Marriage Market, Endogeneity, INTRODUCTION Microcredit programs have attracted much attention from researchers since their inception. These are small-scale credit programs that provide production credit and other services to rural poor. In recent years, [...]

A study evidencing the presence of a structure of social ties and interpersonal relationships built through economic behavior in small groups of people like work teams, neighborhoods, social networks, boards of directors, etc. is presented. The study examines the development of such economic behavior based social ties structure in public good environment.

The approximate effects of measurement error on a variety of measures of inequality and poverty are derived. They are shown to depend on the measurement error variance and functionals of the error-contaminated income distribution, but not on the form of the measurement error distribution, and to be accurate within a rich class of error-free income distributions and measurement error distributions. The functionals of the error-contaminated income distribution that approximate the measurement error induced distortions can be estimated. So it is possible to investigate the sensitivity of welfare measures to alternative amounts of measurement error and, when an estimate of the measurement error variance is available, to calculate corrected welfare measures. The methods are illustrated in an application using Indonesian household expenditure data.

Public sector welfare caseworkers confront shifts in U.S. welfare policy internally, facing changes in their own workplaces, and externally, in relation to their clients. This paper looks at an activist AFSCME caseworker local in Chicago to see how it responded to these internal and external challenges. It compares the strategies of two campaigns, in terms of their timelines, goals, educational needs, and strategic concerns, including relationships with other parts of the union. The paper then draws lessons about alliances with other organizations, the need for a program of maximum mobilization, and development of strong and educated secondary leadership.

Research into the effects mergers of health maintenance organizations has on welfare is given. The research shows that the effects of these mergers on welfare are the highest on health plans ability to realize efficiencies.

Bruce D. Meyer (*) Between 1984 and 1996, changes in tax and transfer programs sharply increased the incentives for single mothers to work. Two aspects of these policy changes are [...]

A local measure of classical horizontal inequity (HI) in an income tax or tax-benefit system is proposed and aggregated into a global index. This index expresses the revenue gain per capita that would come from eliminating HI welfare-neutrally, and also reveals the loss of vertical performance, in terms of the Blackorby and Donaldson (1984) progressivity index, caused by the presence of HI. Non-parametric estimation procedures that can be used to tackle the 'identification problem' are delineated. An application to the Canadian tax-benefit system between 1981 and 1994 reveals the changing profile of local HI, its sources, and its aggregate significance.

Research reveals increased population in New York City family shelters from 1986-1993 occurred for several reasons, such as reduced placements into subsidized housing, an increased number of families in Tier II shelters, and a fall in welfare benefits. Topics include a history of the New York City family shelter system, and implications of the study.

Changes in the delivery of rural hospital services were evaluated using a discrete-choice, travel-cost demand model. Variables such as age, facility scope, income, severity of illness and travel-costs were highlighted by the results of a nested logit model to show the role they play in rural residents' decisions regarding hospital selection. Significant economic value was shown by welfare estimates to be embedded in the provision of rural hospital services. The retention of a very limited hospital facility in rural areas appears to be the feasible option to total closure.

Some views on donation mechanisms that were presented by P.A. Champ, R.C. Bishop, T.C. Brown and D.W. McCollum in their article entitled 'Using donation mechanisms to value non-use benefits from public goods' are criticized. Champ and his co-authors' conclusion on actual donations as a theoretical lower bound on Hicksian values is inaccurate because it was found that donations can either be over, equal or below Hicksian values. This is dependent on the strength of warm glow and method of provision.

Provision of low-wage menial employment through public works schemes promises to provide low cost targeting of the poor, especially in rural areas where instruments for income transfer are scarce. Findings from survey-based studies in rural Botswana and Kenya show that the working poor are more willing to participate in public works schemes, especially those with few assets and limited access to private income transfers. Access to short-term employment through these schemes appears to improve the net income of the very poor and decrease poverty among the rural poor. The significant number of nonpoor in the schemes, indicates however a need for improving poverty targeting through setting wage rates that closely reflect the labor supply characteristics of the poor in rural labor markets. In addition, these schemes have to be complemented with other income-transfer interventions to ensure that the poor who fail to meet work requirements are not excluded from public assistance.

Summary and Introduction The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), is the income source of last resort for the low-income aged, blind, and disabled. [...]

There is extensive public provision of private goods in all developed countries. The public provision scheme is often designed so that individuals can opt out, but not top up (supplement) the publicly provided quantity/quality. Using an optimal income tax/public provision model we derive the respective conditions under which a public provision scheme should allow or forbid supplementing. Disregarding administrative costs, a system where individuals are not allowed to top up is optimal if the demand for the publicly provided good increases in the amount of leisure available, while a scheme allowing individuals to top up is warranted if the demand decreases with the amount of leisure.

The dynamics of welfare participation are analysed using a unique longitudinal data set derived from provincial administrative records over the period 1980-92. The principal findings are that the majority of welfare spells are experienced by single men and women without children, and that while most welfare spells are short, there is a high incidence of recidivism. Although continuous, long-term use and dependence on welfare is not characteristic of most recipients' experiences, the program does not provide an effective route to financial independence, since most users periodically return to the program.

Sweden has experienced a sequence of tax and benefit reforms during the last decade. In this paper we evaluate these reforms from labour supply, welfare and inequality points of view. We depart from a household labour supply model. Simulation of the model reveals that tax and benefit reforms have led to a considerable reduction of the excess burden. Regarding social welfare and inequality, we show that the results depend to a large extent on the income inequality measure and the measure of social welfare, as well as the income concept (household disposable income or money metric utility).

A model of participants' take-up of welfare benefits is developed using welfare fraud and welfare stigma as reference points. Results of the model showed stigma as the significant factor that determines participation in a welfare program, underscoring the effects of informal controls, even under conditions of differing stigma perception and honesty characteristics of participants. The result implies that informal controls can be used in the formulation of effective screening strategies to ensure that the qualified needy enters the welfare program.

This research examines the quantitative impacts of welfare program characteristics and individual characteristics on both the labor force and welfare participation decisions of low-income females with children. The participation decisions are estimated jointly as a bivariate probit model using data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey for the years 1979 to 1990, inclusive. These data allow the estimation of the precise behavioral impacts of welfare. The main empirical findings are that effective welfare guarantee levels and the effective welfare tax rate on unearned income both significantly affect the probability of labor force and welfare program participation, but that such impacts are very small in magnitude. Implications for policy are discussed.

Tanner and Moore (1995) calculate welfare equivalent wags for the six most common social programs for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They assert that individuals who choose public assistance over work are responding rationally to incentives of the welfare system, but they offer no evidence. I present statistically significant support for Tanner and Moore's assertion. Among potential welfare recipients, a one dollar increase in the welfare equivalent wage is found to increase the welfare take-up rate by approximately 2.7 percentage points and decrease the labor force participation rate by approximately 2.5 percentage points. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

A model with health expenditure-based insurance payouts was created to assess the effects of providing subsidies for out-of-pocket health expenses. Findings based on the model reveal that subsidizing coinsurance payments lead to reduced health expenditures and increased welfare if health insurance premiums are payable with pretax dollars. Equal subsidies are also shown to be close to ideal in the presence of deadweight loss. In its absence, the ideal subsidy to coinsurance is greater than that provided to premiums, however, equal subsidies to both will still remain welfare improving.

Monthly administrative records gathered for the period between Nov. 1983 and Sept. 1991 on income assistance in British Columbia were analyzed to determine the reasons for availment, withdrawal and return by individuals of such a service. Findings show that, contrary to popular opinion, single males and not women and children comprise the biggest group of availers. As for returnees, majority are residents of the province.

Reforms to the UK National Health Service were introduced in Apr. 1991 to cut too much vertical integration by implementing a quasi-market where incentive structures and greater availability of information would allow decision makers to more effectively use resources. However, a general framework with which to examine the welfare gains or losses resulting from the quasi-market is yet to be implemented. To correct the situation, an analytical framework of a quasi-market within which distortions such as cream skimming and local monopoly can be investigated.

The factors that influence the length of time people avail of housing assistance should be identified because the present policy focuses on promptly helping physically able individuals attain self-sufficiency. Knowing who gets housing assistance for short periods can help determine the right residential composition of housing projects and targeting meager training budgets through the self-sufficiency programs of HUD. It is because of this that a study was conducted focusing on the duration of housing assistance spells. Data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation was used to develop a hazard model. Findings indicate that several individuals will continue receiving assistance for relatively long periods although some leave housing assistance after short spells. Results also show that there is no duration dependence in housing assistance spells.

The Kaldor compensation test can sometimes inconsistent in the sense that it leads to contradictory or cyclical recommendations in some situations. However, the consistency of this test has a close relationship with the rationalizability of choices from given utility possibilities sets. Given this observation, it is suggested that social decisions can be made using a social welfare ordering in the first place if the Kaldor test is consistent. Thus, the consistent application of the Kaldor test depends on the acceptance of the information assumptions in some social welfare ordering.

Designing public assistance is a controversial issue and yet a necessity due to widespread poverty. The feasibility of targeted programs has been considered by governments due to their objective of minimizing costs of macroeconomic adjustment programs while conforming to restrained government spending. A discussion of targeting as well as some of its common methods.

A research effort showed that people with higher incomes are on average happier. However, increasing everybody's incomes will not increase the happiness of all because the material standards used as basis for well-being also increase proportionately along with society's actual income. The results are based on happiness, material norm and income date gathered through surveys conducted in several countries since the middle of the 20th century.

H. Clark Johnson, L. LynneKiesling and Va Nee L. Van Vleck's doctoral dissertations have all been selected as finalists for the Gerschenkron Prize for the best dissertation on the economic history of countries other than the US. Clark Johnson wrote on internationalgold deflation, Kiesling tackled the political economy of income assistance to the poor during a period of serious economic travail while Van Vleck assesses the impact of technological innovations on industry. All three dissertations contribute significantly to the field of economic history.

I. Introduction This paper focuses on the impact of competition by imitation, more specifically copying, for innovative activity and social welfare. In part, it is a response to recent empirical [...]

A study was conducted to examine changes in social welfare arising from US merger activities in the manufacturing industries. The study focuses on market level conditions and considers data covering the period from 1985 to 1986. It is shown that over short durations, market customers lost because of the merger activities while the industry firms gained. However, the margin of gain was not enough to support consumer losses.

An analysis is made of the joint effects of third-degree price discrimination and excise taxation in several different ways. Results show that in a traditional single market monopoly model, ad valorem and specific taxes provide the same level of welfare measure at a given output level. However, for revenue neutral excise taxes, the demand ad valorem tax system produces more total output than the unit or specific tax before the revenue maximizing unit tax rate.

A study was conducted to examine public service level and the utility of wealthy families as they are affected by the growth in number of poor families in a community dominated by wealthy families. A model for analyzing these issues was developed, in which it was asssumed that local public service level was funded by a property tax and determined by majority voting. The model suggested that the expansion of a predominantly wealthy neighborhood to include more poor families may lead to fiscal deterioration. This situation, in turn, may result in the increase in 'price' of public service and in the maximization of the wealthy resident's utility.

The analysis pools ten years of General Household Surveys to identify the effects of Britain's welfare benefit system on a lone mother's probability of employment. It confirms the prediction that, because of the implicit 100 percent tax rate in the system, higher nonlabor income (other than welfare benefits) increases the probability while a higher benefit guarantee reduces it. The analysis also confirms that among women who could never be eligible for benefits, higher nonlabor income reduces the probability of employment and the guarantee has no effect. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

In this paper we relax the unrestricted domain condition of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem to allow the consideration of domains of econimic preferences--i.e., continuous monotonic preferences on some positive orthant [R.sup.M.sub.+]. The impossibility result remains in effect after all but the most drastic reductions in the size of the domain, in the sense that any domain admitting an Arrow SWF must be nowhere dense in the usual topology on the set of admissible preference profiles.

The 'New Consensus' on welfare expresses the idea that the major problem in social welfare is dependency, not poverty. Much of the evidence for this perspective has come from trend line data indicating that over time poverty did not evaporate in the face of increases in social welfare spending. Using various measures of the 'dependent' poor, the empirical analysis presented suggests that reducing welfare expenditures relative to need does not produce less poverty and dependency.

Research is presented describing the study of teenage births and the influence of economic benefits on the choices made by teenagers whether to have children or not.

The National Bureau of Economic Research and the Universities Research Assn held a conference to discuss the effect of state and federal government reforms on public assistance and social insurance programs on May 14, 1999, in Cambridge, MA. Topics taken up at the two-day meeting included the efficacy of intergovernmental incentives in special education funding, the impact of automobile ownership on positive employment outcomes and the effect of minimum wage legislation on the case loads of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program., An NBER-Universities Research Conference on the Impact of Recent State and Federal Reforms in Public Assistance and Social Insurance Programs took place in Cambridge on May 14 and 15. Organizers [...]

This article examines the utilization of public assistance or welfare in Sweden by immigrants, focusing on how welfare participation decreases with the increase in the amount of time spent in Sweden. A comparison of welfare utilization between refugees, non-refugee immigrants, and natives is presented.

If preferences are not time-separable, economic agents care not only about the magnitude of fluctuations in consumption but also about the persistence and other temporal characteristics of those fluctuations. This paper extends and develops the theory of spectral utility functions, which measure utility frequency by frequency, to illustrate the interaction between consumption volatility and time-non-separable preferences. To highlight the economic implications of the interaction, spectral welfare cost functions are developed to provide a quantitative measure of the importance to economic agents of the temporal delivery of consumption volatility.

In Belgium, welfare agencies receive a subsidy to employ welfare recipients for a period sufficiently long to entitle them to unemployment benefits. We investigate the effect of this programme on the exit rate from welfare. We propose a grouping/IV estimator of the programme effect that eliminates selection bias. The estimator is consistent, even if the selection into the programme depends on the average unobserved characteristics of welfare recipients in a region and in a welfare duration interval. Without correction for selectivity we find that the programme reduces welfare dependence, but after correction this conclusion is reversed.