Groeneveld, Lyle P., Nancy Brandon Tuma, and Michael T. Hannan. 1980. "The Effects of Negative Income Tax Programs on Marital Dissolution." Journal of Human Resources 15(4):654-674.

We review the reasons for expecting a negative income tax (NIT) to affect marital dissolution rates and present a stochastic model of marital dissolution. The analysis reveals that the experimental NIT programs increased the marital dissolution rates for blacks and whites but not Chicanos. The differences in the magnitude of the responses by NIT guarantee level suggest that there are nonpecuniary differences between the experimental programs and existing income-support programs. We compare the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments findings with the findings from the other income maintenance experiments and discuss implications for welfare reform.

Groeneveld is a sociologist with SRI International. Hannan and Tuma are members of the Department of Sociology faculty at Stanford University. The research reported herein was performed pursuant to contracts with the States of Washington and Colorado, prime contractors for the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under contract numbers HEW-100-78-0005 and HEW-100-78-0004, respectively. The opinions expressed in the paper are those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the States of Washington and Colorado or any agency of the United States government. We gratefully acknowledge the research assistance of Helen Garrison and Bevery Lauwagie, the helpful comments we received from Douglas Wolf, and the continuing support and encouragement of Robert G. Spiegelman, Director of the Socioeconomic Research Center.

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US ISSN 0022-166X

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