"The American Myth of Markets in Social Policy examines how implementing American tropes in policy design inadvertently frustrates policy goals. The book investigates multiple market-oriented designs including funding for private organizations to deliver public services, funding for individuals to buy services, and policies incentivizing or mandating private actors to provide social policy. Hevenstone shows that these solutions often not only fail to achieve social goals, but actively undermine them. The book carefully details the mechanisms through which this occurs, and examines several policies in depth, covering universal social insurance programs like healthcare and pensions, as well as smaller interventions like programs for the homeless. "--
"The American Myth of Markets in Social Policy examines how implementing American tropes in policy design inadvertently frustrates policy goals. The book investigates multiple market-oriented designs including funding for private organizations to deliver public services, funding for individuals to buy services, and policies incentivizing or mandating private actors to provide social policy. Hevenstone shows that these solutions often not only fail to achieve social goals, but actively undermine them. The book carefully details the mechanisms through which this occurs, and examines several policies in depth, covering universal social insurance programs like healthcare and pensions, as well as smaller interventions like programs for the homeless."--
In laboratory experiments, people are willing to sanction norms at a cost—a behavioral tendency called altruistic punishment. However, the degree to which these findings can be generalized to real-world interactions is still debated. Only a small number of field experiments have been conducted, and initial results suggest that punishment is less frequent outside of the lab. This study replicates one of the first field experiments on altruistic punishment and builds ties to research on norm compliance and the broken windows theory. The original study addressed the enforcement of the anti-littering norm in Athens. We replicate this study in Bern, Zurich, and New York City. As an extension, we investigate how the experimental context (clean vs littered) impacts social norm enforcement. As a second extension, we investigate how opportunity structure impacts the maintenance of the anti-littering norm. Findings indicate that norms are universally enforced, although significantly less than in the standard laboratory experiment, and that enforcement is significantly more common in Switzerland than in New York. Moreover, individuals prefer more subtle forms of enforcement to direct punishment. We also find that enforcement is less frequent in littered than in clean contexts, suggesting that broken windows might not only foster deviant behavior but also weaken informal social control. Finally, we find that opportunity structure can encourage people to maintain norms, as indicated by the fact that people are more likely to voluntarily pick up litter when it is closer to a trash bin.
We construct an empirically informed computational model of fiscal federalism, testing whether horizontal or vertical equalization can solve the fiscal externality problem in an environment in which heterogeneous agents can move and vote. The model expands on the literature by considering the case of progressive local taxation. Although the consequences of progressive taxation under fiscal federalism are well understood, they have not been studied in a context with tax equalization, despite widespread implementation. The model also expands on the literature by comparing the standard median voter model with a realistic alternative voting mechanism. We find that fiscal federalism with progressive taxation naturally leads to segregation as well as inefficient and inequitable public goods provision while the alternative voting mechanism generates more efficient, though less equitable, public goods provision. Equalization policy, under both types of voting, is largely undermined by micro-actors' choices. For this reason, the model also does not find the anticipated effects of vertical equalization discouraging public goods spending among wealthy jurisdictions and horizontal encouraging it among poor jurisdictions. Finally, we identify two optimal scenarios, superior to both complete centralization and complete devolution. These scenarios are not only Pareto optimal, but also conform to a Rawlsian view of justice, offering the best possible outcome for the worst-off. Despite offering the best possible outcomes, both scenarios still entail significant economic segregation and inequitable public goods provision. Under the optimal scenarios agents shift the bulk of revenue collection to the federal government, with few jurisdictions maintaining a small local tax.
Abstract The 'Added Worker Effect' (AWE) theory posits that partners of the unemployed provide intra-household insurance by increasing their earnings. However, estimates of the AWE are small. Popular explanations include lacking need (e.g. due to generous unemployment benefits), capacity or willingness to increase earnings, though these explanations are seldom tested systematically. Using Swiss administrative data and difference-in-differences estimates, we find an overall AWE among only non-working women. We find no systematic differences in AWEs between couples with differing needs or capacities, but aspects related to willingness like marriage, long marital duration and shared biological children are associated with higher AWEs. Men's overall slight reduction in earnings upon their partners' unemployment is driven by young, childless, cohabiting men. Overall, compared to unemployment insurance, in all studied subgroups, the AWE is a minimal source of insurance.
This study examines whether unemployment insurance benefit generosity impacts divorce, drawing on full population administrative data and a Swiss reform that reduced unemployment insurance maximum benefit duration. We assess the effect of the reform by comparing the pre- to the post-reform change in divorce rates among unemployed individuals who were affected by the reform with the change in divorce rates among a statistically balanced group of unemployed individuals who was not affected by the reform. Difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the reform caused a 2.8 percentage point increase in divorce (a 25% increase). Effects were concentrated among low-income couples (+58%) and couples with an unemployed husband (+32%) though gender differences are attributable to men's breadwinner status. Female main breadwinners were more strongly affected (+78%) than male main breadwinners (+40%). Results confirm the 'family stress model' which posits that job search and financial stress cause marital conflict. Policymakers should consider a broad array of impacts, including divorce, when considering reductions in unemployment insurance generosity.
Despite broad consensus on the importance of measuring "impact," the term is not always understood as estimating counterfactual and causal estimates. We examine a type of public sector financing, "Social Impact Bonds," a scheme where investors front money for public services, with repayment conditional on impact. We examine five cases in four European countries of Social Impact Bonds financing active labor market programs, testing the claim that Social Impact Bonds would move counterfactual causal impact evaluation to the heart of policy. We examine first how evidence was integrated in contracts, second the overall evidence generated and third, given that neither contracts nor evaluations used counterfactual definitions of impact, we explore stakeholders' perspectives to better understand the reasons why. We find that although most stakeholders wanted the Social Impact Bonds to generate impact estimates, beliefs about public service reform, incentives, and the logic of experimentation led to the acceptance of non-causal definitions.
AbstractSocial impact bonds (SIBs), also known as Pay for Success, are an innovation in Payment by Results contracting. Investors finance programs and are repaid based on the "SIB effect," which includes changes in outcomes attributable to financing. We generate a quantitative estimate of this part of the SIB effect for two active labor market programs in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Comparing program impacts within providers using SIB and non‐SIB contracts suggests financing has positive impacts on public benefit receipt, employment, and income. Qualitative research suggests this is because SIB contracts increased pressure for all involved parties, leading to the institutionalization of selection and greater resources for SIB‐financed services. Contracts with high pressure, like SIBs, may compromise both performance requirements and the potential to measure performance. We examine the implications of these findings in relation to agency and stewardship theories and highlight the significance of SIBs as multilateral as opposed to bilateral contracts.
The Swiss Job Market Monitor (SJMM, www.stellenmarktmonitor.uzh.ch) is devoted to a systematic monitoring and analysis of the Swiss labor market. For this purpose, SJMM has compiled a dataset of job openings in the Swiss economy dating back to 1950. The dataset is based on representative samples of job advertisements drawn from all advertising channels that are relevant at the given time.
In 2001, the project switched from its original retrospective survey design to a fully compatible prospective monitoring of the job market that also covers online advertising media. In addition, the initial limitation of the ad survey to German-speaking Switzerland was expanded to cover all of Switzerland from 2001 on.
In the course of the ad survey, the complete ad text is first recorded to enable text-based as well as qualitative analyses of the development of job openings. Second, the information provided in the job ads on the requirements and characteristics of the job openings, the person wanted, and the business placing the job ad are recorded and prepared for quantitative statistical analyses.
The database created in this manner thus opens a multitude of new opportunities for qualitative and quantitative social scientific analyses of both long-term and current trends in the Swiss labor market. This obviously applies to developments in the volume and structure of job openings and the skills demand in the Swiss economy. Yet its potential goes far beyond by offering a much wider range of opportunities for research once the SJMM data are combined with data from other sources (TREE, SAKE, and others more).
The Swiss Job Market Monitor (SJMM, www.stellenmarktmonitor.uzh.ch) is devoted to a systematic monitoring and analysis of the Swiss labor market. For this purpose, SJMM has compiled a dataset of job openings in the Swiss economy dating back to 1950. The dataset is based on representative samples of job advertisements drawn from all advertising channels that are relevant at the given time.
In 2001, the project switched from its original retrospective survey design to a fully compatible prospective monitoring of the job market that also covers online advertising media. In addition, the initial limitation of the ad survey to German-speaking Switzerland was expanded to cover all of Switzerland from 2001 on.
In the course of the ad survey, the complete ad text is first recorded to enable text-based as well as qualitative analyses of the development of job openings. Second, the information provided in the job ads on the requirements and characteristics of the job openings, the person wanted, and the business placing the job ad are recorded and prepared for quantitative statistical analyses.
The database created in this manner thus opens a multitude of new opportunities for qualitative and quantitative social scientific analyses of both long-term and current trends in the Swiss labor market. This obviously applies to developments in the volume and structure of job openings and the skills demand in the Swiss economy. Yet its potential goes far beyond by offering a much wider range of opportunities for research once the SJMM data are combined with data from other sources (TREE, SAKE, and others more).
The Swiss Job Market Monitor (SJMM, www.stellenmarktmonitor.uzh.ch) is devoted to a systematic monitoring and analysis of the Swiss labor market. For this purpose, SJMM has compiled a dataset of job openings in the Swiss economy dating back to 1950. The dataset is based on representative samples of job advertisements drawn from all advertising channels that are relevant at the given time.
In 2001, the project switched from its original retrospective survey design to a fully compatible prospective monitoring of the job market that also covers online advertising media. In addition, the initial limitation of the ad survey to German-speaking Switzerland was expanded to cover all of Switzerland from 2001 on.
In the course of the ad survey, the complete ad text is first recorded to enable text-based as well as qualitative analyses of the development of job openings. Second, the information provided in the job ads on the requirements and characteristics of the job openings, the person wanted, and the business placing the job ad are recorded and prepared for quantitative statistical analyses.
The database created in this manner thus opens a multitude of new opportunities for qualitative and quantitative social scientific analyses of both long-term and current trends in the Swiss labor market. This obviously applies to developments in the volume and structure of job openings and the skills demand in the Swiss economy. Yet its potential goes far beyond by offering a much wider range of opportunities for research once the SJMM data are combined with data from other sources (TREE, SAKE, and others more).
The Swiss Job Market Monitor (SJMM, www.stellenmarktmonitor.uzh.ch) is devoted to a systematic monitoring and analysis of the Swiss labor market. For this purpose, SJMM has compiled a dataset of job openings in the Swiss economy dating back to 1950. The dataset is based on representative samples of job advertisements drawn from all advertising channels that are relevant at the given time.
In 2001, the project switched from its original retrospective survey design to a fully compatible prospective monitoring of the job market that also covers online advertising media. In addition, the initial limitation of the ad survey to German-speaking Switzerland was expanded to cover all of Switzerland from 2001 on.
In the course of the ad survey, the complete ad text is first recorded to enable text-based as well as qualitative analyses of the development of job openings. Second, the information provided in the job ads on the requirements and characteristics of the job openings, the person wanted, and the business placing the job ad are recorded and prepared for quantitative statistical analyses.
The database created in this manner thus opens a multitude of new opportunities for qualitative and quantitative social scientific analyses of both long-term and current trends in the Swiss labor market. This obviously applies to developments in the volume and structure of job openings and the skills demand in the Swiss economy. Yet its potential goes far beyond by offering a much wider range of opportunities for research once the SJMM data are combined with data from other sources (TREE, SAKE, and others more).
