Universal Basic Income in the US and Advanced Countries / Hilary W. Hoynes, Jesse Rothstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoynes, Hilary W.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Rothstein, Jesse.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w25538.

NBER working paper series no. w25538

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2019.

Summary:

We discuss the potential role of Universal Basic Incomes (UBIs) in advanced countries. A feature of advanced economies that distinguishes them from developing countries is the existence of well developed, if often incomplete, safety nets. We develop a framework for describing transfer programs, flexible enough to encompass most existing programs as well as UBIs, and use this framework to compare various UBIs to the existing constellation of programs in the United States. A UBI would direct much larger shares of transfers to childless, non-elderly, non-disabled households than existing programs, and much more to middle-income rather than poor households. A UBI large enough to increase transfers to low-income families would be enormously expensive. We review the labor supply literature for evidence on the likely impacts of a UBI. We argue that the ongoing UBI pilot studies will do little to resolve the major outstanding questions.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2019.