Identifying the Effect of a Welfare-to-Work Program Using Program Capacity Constraints: A New York City Quasi-Experiment

34 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2008 Last revised: 11 May 2010

See all articles by John Ifcher

John Ifcher

Santa Clara University - Leavey School of Business - Economics Department

Date Written: February 1, 2009

Abstract

In 1999 general assistance recipients in New York City were required to participate in a job training and outplacement assistance program. Initially, recipients were enrolled in 'waves' due to capacity constraints. The program's impact is identified using a quasiexperiment in which selectees are compared to concomitantly eligible non-selectees. Selectees are 15 percentage points more likely to start a job and 10 percentage points more likely to exit welfare than are non-selectees. This methodology is important since random-assignment experiments can be costly and difficult to implement. Further, experiments are not impervious to criticism; this procedure addresses three of five known shortcomings.

Keywords: welfare reform, welfare to work program, general assistance, job training, quasi-experiment

JEL Classification: I38, H52, H72

Suggested Citation

Ifcher, John, Identifying the Effect of a Welfare-to-Work Program Using Program Capacity Constraints: A New York City Quasi-Experiment (February 1, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1096611 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1096611

John Ifcher (Contact Author)

Santa Clara University - Leavey School of Business - Economics Department ( email )

500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA California 95053
United States

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