Monica Hernández
;
Stephen Pudney
;
Ruth Hancock

the welfare cost of means-testing: pensioner participation in income support (replication data)

We estimate parametric and semi-parametric binary choice models of benefit take-up by British pensioners and use a revealed preference argument to infer the cash-equivalent value of disutility arising from stigma or complexity of the claims process. These implicit costs turn out to be relatively small, averaging about £3–4 per week across Income Support recipients. Using the Fost-r-Greer-Thorbecke measure of poverty among pensioners, we find that allowing for implicit claim costs incurred by benefit recipients raises the measured degree of poverty by not more than 13%.

Data and Resources

Suggested Citation

Hernández, Monica; Pudney, Stephen; Hancock, Ruth (2007): The welfare cost of means-testing: pensioner participation in income support (replication data). Version: 1. Journal of Applied Econometrics. Dataset. http://dx.doi.org/10.15456/jae.2022319.0714143349