Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey

This paper assesses the extent to which social assistance programs in Turkey impact the labor market behavior of those who receive benefits. Theoretically, the possible channels through which the receipt of social assistance may disincentivize work...

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Main Authors: Alcan, Deniz, Can, Raif, Taskin, Temel, Wiseman, William
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26718953/impact-social-assistance-labor-market-mobility-case-turkey
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25046
id okr-10986-25046
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-250462021-06-14T10:16:43Z Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey Alcan, Deniz Can, Raif Taskin, Temel Wiseman, William social assistance labor market labor mobility This paper assesses the extent to which social assistance programs in Turkey impact the labor market behavior of those who receive benefits. Theoretically, the possible channels through which the receipt of social assistance may disincentivize work are quite clear, even if the substantial literature analyzing these dynamics is somewhat inconclusive. The analysis confirms that even when controlling for the relevant factors, social assistance beneficiaries are significantly more likely than non-beneficiaries to be unemployed or informally employed, and therefore less likely to be formally employed. Furthermore, among the unemployed, the probability of moving into informal employment is found to be significantly larger for beneficiaries than for non-beneficiaries. The paper concludes that there are potential disincentive effects at play in the decision to work, but particularly in whether to work formally or informally. Finally, an interesting and perhaps counterintuitive finding is that beneficiaries who are inactive are less likely to stay inactive in comparison with non-beneficiaries, which suggests that social assistance may be playing an activation role rather than leading to increased dependency. This, coupled with the previous findings, would indicate that disincentives to work, based on current design parameters, may not be the primary concern. Rather, disincentives to formality may be the prevailing channel through which social assistance affects labor market outcomes. More attention to designing programs that are incentive-compatible with formal employment would be a useful next step for public policy in this area. 2016-09-12T22:16:44Z 2016-09-12T22:16:44Z 2016-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26718953/impact-social-assistance-labor-market-mobility-case-turkey http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25046 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7801 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Europe and Central Asia Turkey
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic social assistance
labor market
labor mobility
spellingShingle social assistance
labor market
labor mobility
Alcan, Deniz
Can, Raif
Taskin, Temel
Wiseman, William
Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
geographic_facet Europe and Central Asia
Turkey
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7801
description This paper assesses the extent to which social assistance programs in Turkey impact the labor market behavior of those who receive benefits. Theoretically, the possible channels through which the receipt of social assistance may disincentivize work are quite clear, even if the substantial literature analyzing these dynamics is somewhat inconclusive. The analysis confirms that even when controlling for the relevant factors, social assistance beneficiaries are significantly more likely than non-beneficiaries to be unemployed or informally employed, and therefore less likely to be formally employed. Furthermore, among the unemployed, the probability of moving into informal employment is found to be significantly larger for beneficiaries than for non-beneficiaries. The paper concludes that there are potential disincentive effects at play in the decision to work, but particularly in whether to work formally or informally. Finally, an interesting and perhaps counterintuitive finding is that beneficiaries who are inactive are less likely to stay inactive in comparison with non-beneficiaries, which suggests that social assistance may be playing an activation role rather than leading to increased dependency. This, coupled with the previous findings, would indicate that disincentives to work, based on current design parameters, may not be the primary concern. Rather, disincentives to formality may be the prevailing channel through which social assistance affects labor market outcomes. More attention to designing programs that are incentive-compatible with formal employment would be a useful next step for public policy in this area.
format Working Paper
author Alcan, Deniz
Can, Raif
Taskin, Temel
Wiseman, William
author_facet Alcan, Deniz
Can, Raif
Taskin, Temel
Wiseman, William
author_sort Alcan, Deniz
title Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
title_short Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
title_full Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
title_fullStr Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Social Assistance on Labor Market Mobility : The Case of Turkey
title_sort impact of social assistance on labor market mobility : the case of turkey
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2016
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/08/26718953/impact-social-assistance-labor-market-mobility-case-turkey
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25046
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