IZA/OECD/World Bank Conference on Safety Nets and Benefit Dependence: Evidence and Policy Implications

Tuesday, May 21:

08:15	-	08:45		Registration
08:45	-	09:00		Welcome Address Stefano Scarpetta (OECD and IZA) Ana Revenga (World Bank)
				Session A: Evidence on Benefit Dynamics and Dependence (I)
				Chair: Ana Revenga (World Bank)
09:00	-	09:25		Stephen P. Jenkins (London School of Economics and IZA), Lorenzo Cappellari (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and IZA)
				"The Dynamics of Social Assistance Benefit Receipt in Britain"
09:25	-	09:50		Sarah Carpentier (University of Antwerp), Karel Neels (University of Antwerp)
				"What Drives the Welfare Agency Duration of Social Assistance Beneficiaries: Population Composition, Municipality Characteristics or Policy Choices? A Multilevel Event History Analysis for Belgium"
09:50	-	10:15		Ross Finnie (University of Ottawa), Dejan Pavlic (University of Ottawa)
				"Social Assistance (Welfare) Dynamics in Canada: New Empirical Evidence"
10:15	-	10:40		Coffee Break
10:40	-	11:05		Jörgen Hansen (Concordia University and IZA), Magnus Lofstrom (Public Policy Institute of California and IZA), Xingfei Liu (Concordia University), Xuelin Zhang (Statistics Canada)
				"State Dependence in Canadian Welfare Participation"
11:05	-	11:30		Open Discussion Discussant: Ulrich Hörning (World Bank)
				Session B: What Do People Do After Leaving Benefit Rolls? Benefit Transition and Program Interactions
				Chair: Isabelle Maquet (European Commission)
11:30	-	11:55		Chris Riddell (Cornell University), Craig W. Riddell (University of British Columbia, Vancouver and IZA)
				"Transitioning Long-term Welfare Recipients to Self-sufficiency: The Roles of Education Upgrading and Job Quality"
11:55	-	12:20		Stephan Lindner (Urban Institute), Austin Nichols (Urban Institute)
				"The Impact of Temporary Assistance Programs on Disability Rolls and Re-employment"
12:20	-	14:00		Lunch
14:00	-	14:25		April Yanyuan Wu (Boston College), Norma Coe (Boston College)
				"What Impact Does Social Security Have on the Use of Public Assistance Programs Among the Elderly?"
14:25	-	14:50		Robert G. Valletta (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and IZA), Jesse Rothstein (University of California, Berkeley)
				"Scraping by: Responses to Unemployment Insurance Exhaustion in the Aftermath of the Great Recession"
14:50	-	15:15		Peter R. Mueser (University of Missouri-Columbia and IZA), Colleen Heflin (University of Missouri-Columbia)
				"Aid to Jobless Workers in Florida in the Face of the Great Recession: The Interaction of Unemployment Insurance and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program"
15:15	-	15:45		Open Discussion Discussant: Rebekka Grun (World Bank)
15:45	-	16:05		Coffee Break
				Session C: Responsiveness of Benefit Systems during Crisis
				Chair: Aylin Isik-Dikmelik (World Bank)
16:05	-	16:30		Anna Cristina D'Addio (OECD), Ana LLena-Nozal (OECD)
				"Changes in Social Expenditure over the Cycle: A Comparison Across OECD Countries"
16:30	-	16:55		Stéphane Carcillo (OECD and IZA)
				"The Dynamics of Social Benefit Recipiency in the Crisis"
16:55	-	17:15		Reflections from the Ground: The Crisis and Safety-Net Responses in Bulgaria, Greece and Poland Elka Dimitrova (Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Bulgaria) Efi Bekou (Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Welfare, Greece) Monika Siergiejuk (Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Poland)
17:15	-	17:45		Open Discussion
18:00				Cocktail Reception
19:00				Dinner

Wednesday, May 22:

				Session D: Evidence on Benefit Dynamics and Dependence (II)
				Chair: Stephen P. Jenkins (London School of Economics and IZA)
08:30	-	08:55		Sebastian Königs (OECD)
				"The Dynamics of Social Assistance Receipt in Germany"
08:55	-	09:20		Christoph Wunder (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), Regina Riphahn (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and IZA)
				"Welfare Transitions before and after Reforms of the German Welfare System"
09:20	-	09:45		Daniela Andrén (Örebro University), Thomas Andren (Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (Saco))
				"State Dependence in Social Assistance in Sweden"
09:45	-	10:10		Coffee Break
10:10	-	10:35		Christian Brinch (Statistics Norway), Manudeep Bhuller (Statistics Norway), Sebastian Königs (OECD)
				"Time Aggregation and the Analysis of Welfare Persistence"
10:35	-	11:00		Open Discussion Discussant: Istvan Vanyolos (European Commission)
				Session E: How Do Social Benefits Affect Behavior? (I)
				Chair: Asim Goker Keskin (Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR))
11:00	-	11:25		Sarah Marchal (University of Antwerp), Natascha Van Mechelen (University of Antwerp)
				"Activation Regimes of European Minimum Income Schemes"
11:25	-	11:50		Ulrika Vikman (IFAU), Anna Persson (Uppsala University)
				"Dynamic Effects of Mandatory Activation of Welfare Participants"
11:50	-	12:15		Björn Anders Gustafsson (University of Gothenburg and IZA), Katarina Katz (Karlstad University), Torun Österberg (University of Gothenburg)
				"The Neighbourhood Can Have Strong Effects on Social Assistance Receipt – The Case of Young Adults in Metropolitan Sweden. "
12:15	-	12:40		Open Discussion Discussant: Ilze Zvidrina (Ministry of Welfare, Republic of Latvia)
12:40	-	14:00		Lunch
				Session F: How Do Social Benefits Affect Behavior? (II)
				Chair: Stéphane Carcillo (OECD and IZA)
14:00	-	14:25		Olivier B. Bargain (University of Aix-Marseille II and IZA), Karina Doorley (IZA)
				"Putting Structure on the RD Design"
14:25	-	14:50		Anders Jonassen (Aarhus University)
				"Disincentive Effects of a Generous Social Assistance Scheme"
14:50	-	15:15		Marike Knoef (Leiden University ), Jan van Ours (Tilburg University and IZA)
				"How to Stimulate Single Mothers to Leave Welfare for Work; Evidence from a Field Experiment"
15:15	-	15:45		Open Discussion Discussant: Konstantinos Tatsiramos (University of Leicester and IZA)
15:45				Farewell