Maynard, Rebecca A., and Richard J. Murnane. 1979. "The Effects of a Negative Income Tax on School Performance: Results of an Experiment." Journal of Human Resources 14(4):463-476.

This paper analyzes the impact of a negative income tax experiment on the school performance of children in grades 4 through 10. The results indicate that the experimental program led to an increase in the average reading achievement of children in grades 4 through 6. This improved performance can be explained at least in part by the effect of the program on family income. No beneficial effects of the NIT program were observed for older children.

The authors are, respectively, Senior Economist, Mathematica Policy Research, and Assistant Professor of Economics, Yale University. The authors are equally responsible for the research reported in this paper, which was performed under contract #HEW-100-76-0073 with the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The opinions expressed are those of the authors. We are indebted to Alicia Scott and a number of the MPR staff members who provided programming and research assistance for this project. We also thank Anthony Boardman, Kenneth Kehrer, Larry Manheim, Edward Pauly, Barbara Phillips, Douglas Wolf, and anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft.

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US ISSN 0022-166X

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