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Effects of work requirements on welfare migration

Author: Karin Edmark , And

Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2009, vol. 111, no. 3, pp. 511-526

Summary of Working paper 2007:29

This study tests for a migration response to the implementation
of stricter rules for welfare bene…t receipt, in the form of mandatory
participation in activation programs for welfare recipients, in Stock-
holm town districts. The hypothesis is that welfare bene…t prone
individuals will choose to live in a town district that has no program
if they dislike the loss of leisure due to program participation more
than they value the contents of the program, and vice versa. The
results give some indications of a negative e¤ect of the program on
the outmigration of welfare prone individuals. This is however not
robust to changes in comparison group nor in the sample of town
districs. The conclusion that can be drawn is that there are no in-
dications that activation programs lead to outmigration of welfare
prone individuals.
Keywords: welfare migration, welfare-to-work, di¤erence-in-di¤erence-
in-di¤erences
JEL: H53, H70, I38, R23

This study tests for a migration response to the implementation of stricter rules for welfare bene…fit receipt, in the form of mandatory participation in activation programs for welfare recipients, in Stockholm town districts. The hypothesis is that welfare benefi…t prone individuals will choose to live in a town district that has no program if they dislike the loss of leisure due to program participation more than they value the contents of the program, and vice versa. The results give some indications of a negative effect of the program on the outmigration of welfare prone individuals. This is however not robust to changes in comparison group nor in the sample of town districts. The conclusion that can be drawn is that there are no indications that activation programs lead to outmigration of welfare prone individuals.

Keywords: welfare migration, welfare-to-work, difference-in-difference-in-differences
JEL: H53, H70, I38, R23

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