Stigma in Welfare Programs / Pablo A. Celhay, Bruce D. Meyer, Nikolas Mittag.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Celhay, Pablo A.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Meyer, Bruce D.

Mittag, Nikolas.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30307.

NBER working paper series no. w30307

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

Stigma of welfare participation is important for policy and survey design, because it deters program take-up and increases misreporting. Stigma is also relevant to the literature on social image concerns, yet empirical evidence is scant because stigma is difficult to empirically identify. We use a novel approach to studying stigma by examining the relationship between program participation in a recipient's local network and underreporting program participation in surveys. We find a robust negative relationship and rule out explanations other than stigma. Stigma decreases when more peers engage in the stigmatized behavior and when such actions are less observable.

Notes:

Print version record

July 2022.