Welfare Benefits and Female Headship in U.S. Time Series

A considerable amount of work has been done on the relationship between AFDC benefits and family structure in the United States. The evidence to date—based on cross-state variation in welfare benefits and family structure, often with state fixed effects—indicates that there is some nonzero effect of those benefits on marriage and fertility, although disagreement remains about the magnitude of the effect. It is undisputed, however, that time-series trends in family structure are not correlated in the direction that the cross-state evidence would suggest, because real benefits have been falling, even relative to wages, in aggregate time series. This paper reexamines the time-series evidence with particular attention to the role of wages in explaining trends in headship, and notes that the correct specification includes male as well as female wages. When both are controlled, welfare benefits have a slight positive impact on female headship even in time series. The results demonstrate the importance of labor market factors in explaining trends in female headship.

A structural model of multiple welfare program participation and labor supply

One of the long-standing issues in the literature on transfer programs for the U.S. low-income population concerns the high cumulative marginal tax rate on earnings induced by participation in the multiplicity of programs offered by the government. Empirical work on the issue has reached an impasse partly because the analytic solution to the choice problem is intractable and partly because the model requires the estimation of multiple sets of equations with limited dependent variables, an estimation problem which until recently has been computationally infeasible. In this paper we estimate a model of labor supply and multiple program participation using methods of simulation estimation that enable us to solve both problems. The results show asymmetric wage and tax rate effects, with fairly large wage elasticities of labor supply but very inelastic responses to moderate changes in cumulative marginal tax rates, implying that high welfare tax rates do not necessarily induce major reductions in work effort.

The effectiveness of financial work incentives in DI and SSI: Lessons from other transfer programs

The Disability Insurance Program (DI) and the Supplemental Security Income Program (SSI) are the primary cash transfer programs for the disabled. We compare the potential outcomes of using financial inducements as a means to increase the work incentives to those who are on DI, and an earnings replacement program, or SSI, a means-tested transfer program not tied to previous work experience. Our assessment of the existing research on work incentives in programs for the nondisabled leads us to urge caution in relying on simple financial inducements as means of work-incentive reform without further, concrete evidence of their effectiveness.

Tax Rates and Work Incentives in the Social Security Disability Insurance Program: Current Law and Alternative Reforms

The Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Program has long been criticized by economists for its apparent work disincentives stemming from the imposition of 100 percent tax rates on earnings. However, the program has been modified in recent years to allow recipients to keep some of their earnings for fixed periods of time. Moreover, additional proposals have been made for lowering the tax rate further and for providing various additional financial work incentives. We use the basic labor supply model to show the expected effect of these reforms on work effort. In addition, we provide a numerical simulation that shows the magnitude of the monetary incentives provided by the reforms for different categories of individuals. We find that the proposed reforms have ambiguous effects on work effort and could, contrary to perceived wisdom, possibly reduce work effort and increase the number of SSDI recipients. However, the simulations show that reforms based on earnings subsidies for private employers are more likely to increase work effort and to lower the caseload.

Combined pyrolysis and radiochemical gas chromatography for studying the thermal degradation of polymers

Pyrolysis gas chromatography and radioactive tracer techniques have been used independently to study the thermal degradation of polymers. In these laboratories the two techniques have been combined to elucidate some of the mechanisms of the thermal degradation of epoxy resins and polyimides. This paper describes the apparatus developed for this work

A new <i>Scabrotrophon</i> (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from Hawaii and discussion about the generic classification of <i>Boreotrophon kamchatkanus</i> Dall, 1902, a related species

A small muricid collected at 414 m off the Hawaiian Island of Oahu is described and compared, on the basis of shell characters only, with a syntype and two other specimens of Scabrotrophon kamchatkanus (Dall, 1902) (new combination) from the Northern Pacific. SEM images of the operculum, radula, and of the penis are illustrated for the new species

Analysis and correlation of the test data from an advanced technology rotor system

Comparisons were made of the performance and blade vibratory loads characteristics for an advanced rotor system as predicted by analysis and as measured in a 1/5 scale model wind tunnel test, a full scale model wind tunnel test and flight test. The accuracy with which the various tools available at the various stages in the design/development process (analysis, model test etc.) could predict final characteristics as measured on the aircraft was determined. The accuracy of the analyses in predicting the effects of systematic tip planform variations investigated in the full scale wind tunnel test was evaluated

Improving Rhode Island’s health care system: lessons from the Cuban model

Improving Rhode Island’s health care system: lessons from the Cuban model Cuba is world renowned for its health care system. In regards to international health crises, Cuba is a leader in sending workers abroad and training doctors from all over the world. Within its own borders, the Cuban model provides free access to all citizens in which every individual has a primary care provider. Cuba boasts high vaccination rates, a long life expectancy, low infant mortality rate, and a population that is one of the healthiest in the western hemisphere. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the Cuban model of healthcare and compare it with the United States model. More specifically, for this research, we compared the Cuban province of Sancti Spíritus and the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The methods taken to evaluate the Cuban and American healthcare systems include the following: Review of the Cuban Health Care Model, review of the Rhode Island Primary Care Trust, and interviews with multiple individuals in both health care systems. The interviews were conducted with both Cuban and American health care professionals, medical students, and the former director of the Department of Health, Dr. Michael Fine. Dr. Michael Fine is an expert on community health programs. Primary care and prevention are the most cost effective and attainable methods of securing a healthier population. In the United States it is common that physicians continue on into specialized fields that compete for patients and do not consider the larger health care need for service in the community. This creates a dire need for primary care providers and is in contrast to what occurs in Cuba. In Cuba, physicians, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners are trained specifically to continue their work in the primary care field tending to the basic needs of the Cuban population. Providers trained at the Latin American Medical School System in Cuba do not pay for their education. On completion of their expense-free training, the graduates are expected to return to their communities and provide primary care, thus ensuring social commitment. In the United States, providers continue on to specializations thus creating obstacles to achieving an effective model of primary care. This research explores the many barriers to forming an effective primary care system in the United States with access for all. After interviewing students and providers in both Cuba and Rhode Island, we conclude that Rhode Island should continue to expand and promote the community health care model outlined by the Rhode Island Primary Care Trust. Given the need for more primary care providers, models of education and treatment should focus on nurse practitioners and physicians assistants who are committed to social action and effective community health. The implications of this model require change to the American health care system as we know it. These changes will challenge Rhode Islanders to imagine the future of health care, not as competition, but as collaboration