Volume 20, Number 4 (Fall) 1985
Robins, Philip K. 1985. "A Comparison of the Labor Supply Findings from the Four Negative Income Tax Experiments." Journal of Human Resources 20(4):567-582.
Between 1968 and 1982, the United States federal government sponsored four negative income tax experiments. This paper provides a set of consensus estimates of the labor supply responses to these experiments. It is found that despite the wide range of treatments and evaluation methodologies, the results are remarkably consistent. On average, husbands reduced labor supply by about the equivalent of two weeks of full-time employment. Wives and single female heads reduced labor supply by about the equivalent of three weeks of full-time employment. Youth reduced labor supply by about the equivalent of four weeks of full-time employment. Estimated income and substitution effects are quite similar to those obtained from nonexperimental studies.
The author is Professor of Economics. University of Miami.
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 (now Health and Human Services)
under contract numbers HEW- 111-78-1115 and HEW-111-78-1114, respectively. The
opinions expressed in the paper are those of the author 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.
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