Universal Basic Income & Cash-Transfer Findings

Highlighted findings:

"Women’s empowerment was one of the more important outcomes of this experiment"

Guy Standing: http://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/indias-great-experiment-the-transformative-potential-of-basic-income-grants/ "Contrary to the skeptics, the grants led to more labor and work (figure 2)."

"The positive effect on production and growth means that the elasticity of supply would offset inflationary pressure"

"Those with basic income were more likely to reduce debt and less likely to go into greater debt."

Further reading: http://mondediplo.com/2013/05/04income

Highlighted findings:

"Overall crime rates – as reported to the local police station – fell by 42% while stock theft fell by 43% and other theft by nearly 20%."

"Before the pilot project started, opponents said that if you give people money, and especially poor people, they will sit down and become lazy. [...] The results of the research presented here, refute this claim." - "I am convinced that the BIG is not only able to eradicate destitution, hunger and malnutrition, but that it lays a strong foundation for economic empowerment, responsibility and ownership taking. The BIG, by restoring the human dignity of people, frees people to become active and proud members of this society."

Highlighted findings:

"165 studies, covering 56 programs"

Overall, the evidence confirms that cash transfers can be a powerful policy instrument and highlights the range of potential benefits for beneficiaries. By retrieving, assessing and synthesising the literature on cash transfers over the past 15 years, this review contributes to the growing evidence based on the impacts of cash transfers and provides additional insights into how they work.

Highlighted findings:

"businesses compete for a share of the dividend dollars through advertising campaigns, sales, and other types of special offers."

local business and thus the economy benefits from the unconditional incomes, yet this is only half of the story as business owners themselves also receive dividends.

"This has allowed the state to eliminate most taxes except those on petroleum, to expand public services..." Consider the benefits that non-business organizations and public-services can and likely do take advantage of. "Although the dividend provides much needed cash to the residents of these villages, it also enables some to remain who would otherwise move to places where jobs are more readily available and public services less expensive."

"demand for public as well as non-profit programs providing services for lower-income individuals and families has also been growing rapidly."

"Alaska has experienced lower levels of inflation compared to the U.S. average since the inception of the program." - http://nation.time.com/2014/02/13/alaska-happiest-state/

"Alaska is consistently among the most equal of all US states, with the lowest rates of poverty, and the highest Well-Being Index scores." - https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/extreme-wealth-inequality-alaska-model

Highlighted findings:

"The evidence does not suggest an average worker will drop out of the labor force when provided with unconditional cash, even when the transfer is large."

"School attendance, grades, and test scores for the children of negative income tax recipients were typically higher than the control population, especially for younger and poorer children."

Children also reported more positive interactions with parents." "payments also caused a reduction in drug-dealing activities among youths."

"This demand stimulation effect would contribute to increasing employment and wages."

"an improvement in parenting likely contributed to improved child outcomes among families receiving the payments"

"The positive effect of the payments on psychiatric disorders in young adulthood was larger for children who were younger when the payments started."

"find that income has a pervasive positive effect on health, with important reductions in smoking, obesity, and anxiety. "

Highlighted findings:

"When people receive cash grants they invest the money or spend it on such basic items as food and better shelter."

"Cash grants do not cause inflation and do produce significant benefits for local economies. The research found that there are no inflationary impacts from cash distributions."

"proven to be an effective form of aid for reducing poverty. Direct cash assistance is inexpensive to administer and allows recipients to buy what they want and need, rather than what experts think they need."

"Fears that cash recipients consistently waste the funds they are given are simply not supported by the available data"

"Research shows that when recipients can invest their cash grants in job-skills training and starting small businesses, cash grants help poor recipients create long-term income sources."

"Families that received cash faced fewer verbal and physical conflicts"

"The research found that the cash program did not increase the number of refugees moving to regions with the cash program."

Highlighted findings:

"the community has become more unified, with everyone interacting well with each other across social strata. “It brought more social cohesion because some people used to suffer on their own. They did not socialize with other people because they [didn't have a foundational income floor] but with the coming of the programme everyone is working together, people are now interacting with everyone.” Florence, female community member"

“It brought more cohesion because some people used to suffer on their own. They did not socialize with other people because they were poor but with the coming of the programme everyone is working together, people are now interacting with everyone.” Florence, female, community member"

"the programme had enabled them to set up small scale income generating activities, transforming their livelihoods by strengthening household assets."

"The programme was said to address social inequalities creating more unified and socially cohesive community contexts"

Highlighted findings:

"on average, there is no increase in the consumption of temptation goods."

"There is clear evidence that transfers are not consistently used for alcohol or tobacco in any of these environments."

"strong evidence that concerns that transfers will be used on alcohol and tobacco are unfounded."

"This paper reviews 19 studies with quantitative evidence on the impact of cash transfers on temptation goods, as well as 11 studies that surveyed the number of respondents who reported they used transfers for temptation goods. Almost without exception, studies find either no significant impact or a significant negative impact of transfers on temptation goods.ct of transfers on temptation goods."

Highlighted findings:

Found "no systematic evidence that cash transfer programs discourage work."

"We re-analyze the data from 7 randomized controlled trials of government-run cash transfer programs in six developing countries throughout the world, and find no systematic evidence that cash transfer programs discourage work."

"no effects of transfers on work behavior, either for men or women."

"show no evidence—despite claims in the policy debate—that the transfers induce increases in spending on temptation goods, such alcohol and tobacco."

Highlighted findings:

Journal of Development Economics

"Two unconditional cash transfers implemented by the Government of Zambia show strong protective and productive effects."

"Both programs generate large income multipliers, averaging 1.67 across both programs." "[Economic] Multipliers are generated through investment in non-farm activity in one case, and agricultural output in the other case."

"Policy implication is that government sponsored unconditional cash [...] can lead to increases in long-term living standards and play an important part of an inclusive growth development strategy."

Highlighted findings:

"[cash-transfers do not] Induce higher spending on alcohol or tobacco"

"[cash-transfers are not] fully consumed (rather than invested)"

"[cash-transfers do not] create dependency (reduce participation in productive work)"

"[cash-transfers do not] increase fertility"

"[cash-transfers do not] lead to negative community-level economic impacts (including price distortion and inflation)"

"[cash-transfers are not unable to scale and not] unsustainable."

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View statistics related to crime-reduction, improved education, improved health: http://ubi.earth/findings/



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