ERIC Number: EJ773093
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 19
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1098-2140
EISSN: N/A
What Are the Effects of Welfare Sanction Policies?: Or, Using Propensity Scores as a Subgroup Indicator to Learn More from Social Experiments
Peck, Laura R.
American Journal of Evaluation, v28 n3 p256-274 2007
This article uses propensity scores to identify subgroups of individuals most likely to experience a reduction in cash benefits because of sanctions in some of the programs that make up the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies. It extends program evaluation methodology by using propensity scoring to identify the subgroups of sanctioned and nonsanctioned welfare recipients. Specifically, the propensity score is used to identify the sample subset most likely to experience program sanction. In this application, the propensity score helps deal with an omitted variable problem, that of not knowing what the sanction status is in the control group (because they were not subject to the policies being tested). Findings reveal that being high sanction risk induces greater work levels and therefore higher earnings, but it also results in receiving less cash assistance so that sanctioned recipients have roughly the same net incomes as nonsanctioned ones. (Contains 3 tables and 5 notes.)
Descriptors: Program Evaluation, Control Groups, Welfare Recipients, Research Design, Identification, Groups, Welfare Services, Sanctions, Public Policy, Economic Impact, Client Characteristics, Scoring
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A