Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi

Though the differential impacts of earned and unearned income have long been of interest to economists and policymakers, the study of this question is often conflated by other differences between the income streams. We conduct a field experiment in Malawi in which we examine the differential short-t...

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Main Authors: Ambler, Kate, Godlonton, Susan
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142704
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author Ambler, Kate
Godlonton, Susan
author_browse Ambler, Kate
Godlonton, Susan
author_facet Ambler, Kate
Godlonton, Susan
author_sort Ambler, Kate
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Though the differential impacts of earned and unearned income have long been of interest to economists and policymakers, the study of this question is often conflated by other differences between the income streams. We conduct a field experiment in Malawi in which we examine the differential short-term effect of earned and unearned income on the allocation of expenditures and labor supply, holding all other factors constant. All participants receive an equal size cash payment and make the same time investment; half are required to work, and half are not. Our main finding is that the work requirement results in a reallocation of labor supply away from household work in the very short term. Conversely, there is no evidence that the allocation of expenditures across categories is affected.
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spelling CGSpace1427042025-06-13T17:53:00Z Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi Ambler, Kate Godlonton, Susan income expenditure labour markets labour requirements Though the differential impacts of earned and unearned income have long been of interest to economists and policymakers, the study of this question is often conflated by other differences between the income streams. We conduct a field experiment in Malawi in which we examine the differential short-term effect of earned and unearned income on the allocation of expenditures and labor supply, holding all other factors constant. All participants receive an equal size cash payment and make the same time investment; half are required to work, and half are not. Our main finding is that the work requirement results in a reallocation of labor supply away from household work in the very short term. Conversely, there is no evidence that the allocation of expenditures across categories is affected. 2021-07-01 2024-05-22T12:10:54Z 2024-05-22T12:10:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142704 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133535 Open Access Elsevier Ambler, Kate; and Godlonton, Susan. 2021. Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 187(July 2021): 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.03.039
spellingShingle income
expenditure
labour markets
labour requirements
Ambler, Kate
Godlonton, Susan
Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title_full Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title_fullStr Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title_short Earned and unearned income: Experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in Malawi
title_sort earned and unearned income experimental evidence on expenditures and labor supply in malawi
topic income
expenditure
labour markets
labour requirements
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142704
work_keys_str_mv AT amblerkate earnedandunearnedincomeexperimentalevidenceonexpendituresandlaborsupplyinmalawi
AT godlontonsusan earnedandunearnedincomeexperimentalevidenceonexpendituresandlaborsupplyinmalawi