Abstract
Increasing calls for reform to welfare provision have seen growing support for
basic income (BI) – the unconditional provision of cash transfers to all. As a
result, recent years have seen an exponential increase in the number of pilot
experiments of BI, across all parts of the world. However, to date, there has
been little discussion of the ethical considerations of such experiments. This
paper is the outcome of a workshop whereby BI piloters came together to
discuss such ethical considerations, share case studies, and begin to formulate
general principles to guide ethical BI experiments. The paper discusses the
ethical considerations relevant to the various stages of a pilot experiment and
concludes with some general principles: to do-no-harm, maintain respect,
dignity, and agency; mitigate power inequalities, promote trust and
transparency, and ensure substantive unconditionality. The paper hopes to
stimulate discussions towards an ethical protocol for better practice in BI
experiments and provide a useful resource to those working on, or interested
in, BI research.
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