(Un)conditional Basic Income and Participation Income: A Review of its Micro- and Macro-Economic Effects.

Melline A. Somers*, Ruud J. A. Muffels, Annemarie Kuenn-Nelen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This paper reviews 41 studies on the micro and macro-economic effects of (Un)conditional Basic Income (UBI/CBI), Negative Income Tax, and Participation Income related programmes in middle- and high-income countries. These programmes aim to provide a Guaranteed Minimum Income either for the population at large or for specific groups such as the unemployed. Compared to previous review studies in the field, it advances by examining the broader (un)intended effects on income, (mental) health, subjective well-being and social outcomes. We find that recent US/Canada studies re-estimating the negative labour supply effects found in older studies report much lower and even insignificant estimates. The studies on European programmes and experiments show slightly more positive but still mostly insignificant labour supply effects. However, more positive and significant effects on subjective wellbeing, mental health, and trust were found, particularly in recent European studies. Similar effects were observed in recent Canadian and US studies.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages40
JournalDe Economist
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Dec 2024

JEL classifications

  • i12 - Health Production
  • j22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
  • i30 - Welfare and Poverty: General

Keywords

  • Basic Income
  • Participation Income
  • Negative Income Tax
  • Micro-economic effects
  • Macro-economic effects
  • Labour supply
  • Poverty
  • Income inequality
  • Health
  • Subjective well-being
  • Trust
  • Public policy

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