Abstract
This paper exploits a quasi-natural experiment to study the effect of social benefits level on take-up rates. We find that households who are eligible for double benefits (twins) have much higher take-up rate-up to double-as compared to a control group of households. Our estimated effect of benefits level is much higher relative to the standard cross section estimates. This finding is less exposed to a selection bias that might plague much of the previous research on the link between benefits level and take-up. It provides strong empirical support for the level of benefits as a key factor in determining take-up rates.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 151-173 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | International Tax and Public Finance |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2010 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements Our thanks to Noam Zusman and the seminar participants of the School of Public Policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. We also thank Tal Otiker and Liza Teper for their research assistance. This paper has been written while Momi Dahan was visiting the Center for Economic Studies (CES) in Munich. Momi Dahan would like to thank the CES for providing an ideal environment for research and for its very kind hospitality. We thank the Falk Institute for the financial support. We thank Gal Hershkovitz and “Hagihon” for providing us with the data.
Keywords
- Social benefits
- Take-up
