Volume 15, Number 4 (Fall) 1980
Robins, Philip K., Nancy Brandon Tuma, and K. E. Yaeger. 1980. "Effects of SIME/DIME on Changes in Employment Status." Journal of Human Resources 15(4):545-573.
Ways in which heads of families in the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments reduce their labor supply are analyzed in this paper. By estimating transition rates of leaving and entering employment, the authors calculate the effect of the experiment on such measures as the average length of nonemployment, the likelihood of being employed at a given time, the number of entries into and exits from employment within a given period, and the average length of spells of employment. Results indicate that heads of families on experimental negative income tax (NIT) programs have a greater tendency than controls to leave employment. The results also indicate that the NIT programs substantially lengthen spells of nonemployment for all groups studied. All groups also experience a significant decline in the probability of employment as a result of the NIT treatments.
Robins and Yaeger are economists with SRI International. Tuma is a member of the Department of Sociology faculty at Stanford University. The research reported in this paper 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 this paper are those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the States of Washington or Colorado or any agency of the United States government. The authors owe a special debt to John McClure for his dedicated and skillful work in programming. Louise Smith-Donals, Joseph Waight, and John Peterson also provided valuable programming assistance. The helpful comments of Katherine Dickinson, Michael Keeley, and Richard West are gratefully acknowledged.
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