by Kate McFarland | Oct 8, 2017 | News
Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator has concluded its pilot in Oakland and released a draft proposal for a large-scale randomized control trial of basic income in the United States.
In January 2016, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman announced his intention to spearhead a privately funded trial of unconditional basic income in the United States, hiring social work and political science PhD Elizabeth Rhodes as Research Director later in the year, and eventually assembling a team of expert advisors.
Since this time, Y Combinator has conducted a feasibility study in Oakland, California, and is now working to finalize the design of its full scale experiment. (Contrary to some misconceptions, the Oakland project was not itself an experiment. Its purpose was merely to test and fine-tune the mechanisms for conducting the experiment–such as the selection of participants, disbursement of funds, and collection of data–not to analyze the effects of unconditional cash transfers on recipients. The latter will be the goal of the project described in the new research proposal, which has yet to be launched.)
Although some details of the experiment remain to be decided, including the precise outcome variables and methods of data collection, Y Combinator has decided to design the experiment as a randomized controlled trial, conducted on a random sample of poor and low-income young adults from two US states (using a stratified sample to ensure adequate representation across race, gender, and income categories).
On the tentative design, the researchers will select a total of 3000 participants, randomly assigning 1000 to the treatment group–who will receive a regular cash payment of 1000 USD per month unconditionally for the duration of the experiment–and the remaining 2000 to the control group. (Individuals in the control group will provide the same type of feedback and data to researchers but receive only a much smaller cash payment, tentatively set at 50 USD per month.) The experiment is planned to continue for three to five years.
Y Combinator expresses an interest in a “holistic approach to understanding the individual-level effects of basic income”, in contrast to past and present experiments which have focused on the labor market impacts of unconditional cash payments, such as Finland’s current basic income experiment and the negative income tax experiments conducted in the United States in the 1970s. Among these individual-level effects, the research group is particularly interested in time use, mental and physical health, subjective well-being, financial health, decision making and attitudes toward risk, as well as political and social attitudes. Furthermore, although individual-level effects will be the focus of the experiment, researchers also hope to examine spillover effects on recipients’ families, friends, and communities.
While the research group has not finalized its choice of data sources and collection methods (see its project proposal for a discussion of possibilities currently under discussion), it plans to combine quantitative analysis with regular surveys and interviews (in contrast, for example, to the Finnish experiment, in which researchers have abjured the use of surveys and interviews during the duration of the experiment). Rhodes has explained, however, that participation in surveys and interviews will be voluntary for participants; that is, the payments will continue for the duration of the experiments even if recipients do not respond to requests for data and information.
The research team acknowledges that the experiment does not, strictly speaking, test a universal basic income. For one, as mentioned, the sample will be limited to young adults (aged 21 to 40) with incomes below the area median. The researchers justify this limitation, however, by noting that “the marginal effect of the additional income on many of the outcomes is expected to be relatively small at higher income levels” and that, under most plans, “the benefit received by higher-income individuals would be paid back in taxes in order to fund the program”.
Additionally, due to the use of a randomized controlled trial, the research will not capture multiplier effects that might result from the implementation of a universal basic income (in contrast, for example, to the saturation study in Dauphin, Manitoba, or GiveDirectly’s recently launched village-level RCT of basic income in Kenya). However, researchers note that “ the intervention is very expensive and our sample size is constrained by the budget. We will not have enough statistical power to detect effects with a geographically saturated study and the increase in sample size required to allow for clustering is financially infeasible.”
To conduct the experiment, Y Combinator has partnered with the Center on Poverty and Inequality (CPI) at Stanford University. The research has been approved by Stanford’s Institutional Review Board for research involving human subjects.
Y Combinator is currently working with state and local governments to coordinate mechanisms for distributing payments without affecting recipients’ future eligibility for existing government benefits, and to obtain the use of registries to collect individual data.
With many details still to be settled, no specific launch date has been set for the experiment (although Rhodes stated at the recent BIEN Congress that the research group hopes to begin the study in “early 2018”), and the states from which subjects will be sampled have not been publicly announced.
The full research proposal can be read on Y Combinator’s blog (see “Basic Income Research Proposal,” published September 20, 2017).
The organization invites comments and feedback on its project proposal.
Reviewed by Dawn Howard
Photo (Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland) CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 MagicMediaProduction
by Kate McFarland | Sep 21, 2017 | Research
Matt Wilder, doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto, won first place in the 2016 Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) graduate student essay contest with his paper “Debating Unconditional Basic Income”.
A revised version of Wilder’s award-winning paper has recently been published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science.
Abstract:
Much of the literature on unconditional basic income considers reciprocity to be necessary for its success. From a normative standpoint, receiving without giving is unjust. From a technical standpoint, the absence of mechanisms that promote reciprocation invites free riding which threatens to erode the economic structure upon which the system of distribution depends. As a solution, it has been proposed that communities adopt social norms that encourage basic income recipients to contribute to the productive capacity of society by engaging in volunteer work. This article interrogates whether this alternative to conditionality is consistent with the rationale for implementing unconditional basic income and finds the instillation of stronger norms to be unnecessary for the project’s success.
Wilder uses data from the World Values Survey to establish his claim that stronger social norms are unnecessary to reduce the threat of freeriding, arguing that individuals with income security are already inclined to act altruistically.
The PEF student essay contest is open to all Canadian students, with separate competitions for graduate and undergraduate students. The graduate competition carries a $1000 cash award for the first prize.
Wilder also won the 2014 PEF graduate student essay contest for “Internationalization and Variable Confluence in State-Assisted Economic Sectors: Lessons from Canada’s Experience Under Free Trade”.
Reviewed by Caroline Pearce
Photo: Soup kitchen in Montreal, CC BY 2.0 Gerry Lauzon
by Claire Bott | Sep 14, 2017 | News
In a recent video released by the BBC, anthropologist Dr Jason Hickel argues for a form of planned de-growth which includes the provision of basic income.
Hickel is employed by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which for several years has been ranked second in the world for social sciences by the QS World University Rankings. In the video, he argues that modern society is harmfully addicted to economic growth, and that this is destroying the planet. He also states “Introducing a basic income and a shorter working week would allow us to get rid of unnecessary jobs and redistribute labour.”
The video is part of the BBC’s “Viewsnight” series, which is released on Facebook and YouTube with the intention of stimulating debate.
Jason Hickel, “Our addiction to economic growth is killing us”, 10th August 2017
by Kate McFarland | Sep 11, 2017 | News
The 10th annual international Basic Income Week will be September 18 to 24.
Basic income organizations throughout the world have organized events and activities in honor of the advocacy and awareness week. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- In Canada, BIEN’s affiliate Basic Income Canada Network, is collecting answers to the question “How might a Basic Income Guarantee affect your life and/or your loved ones?” to compile and send to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal cabinet members. Responses will be sent during Basic Income Week.
- In Germany, political comedian and basic income supporter Anny Hartmann will deliver a series of performances of her routine “NoLobby is perfect!”. Basic Income Week advertises “Grundeinkommen inside!” in describing her solo show.
- BIEN’s Dutch affiliate, Vereniging Basisinkomen (VBi), is hosting a workshop on the first day of Basic Income Week, featuring talks by VBi chairperson Alexander de Roo, independent researcher Sjir Hoeijmakers (who was an advisor for the Dutch social assistance experiments), and others.
- In Melbourne, Australia, the Kevin Club will host “A Conversation About Basic Income”, in which supporters of the idea will gather to discuss the possibilities for basic income in Australia.
- Rutger Bregman will present his book Utopia for Realists in Oslo, Norway, where he will also join a panel discussion on basic income.
- In Denmark, Erik Christensen (Aalborg University) will hold a presentation of his new book, På vej til borgerløn (“On the way to basic income”) and, on the following day, debate “Basic Income: Emancipation or Cost-Savings Measure?” with Kristian Kongshøj, a postdoc in political science at Aalborg.
- In Brussels, Belgium, a debate will be held between representatives across the political spectrum–Liberals, Christian Democrats, Socialists, and Greens–who profess “a minimum of sympathy” for basic income. Although the debaters all claim to be sympathetic to basic income, one question at stake in the debate is whether these individuals of diverse political views are really talking about the same concept when they speak of “basic income”.
Interested individuals may subscribe the calendar on the official site of Basic Income Week to see new events as they are added, and interested groups may add new events to be seen.
Basic Income Week is independently organized and not affiliated with BIEN, although many BIEN affiliates choose to participate. (In fact, Basic Income Week defines ‘basic income’ in a stricter manner than BIEN; Basic Income Week’s definition, unlike BIEN’s, stipulates that a basic income must, by definition, be high enough in amount to “prevent material poverty and provide the opportunity to participate in society and to live in dignity”.)
Photo: “Globes” CC BY 2.0 Jayel Aheram
by Sara Bizarro | Sep 4, 2017 | News
The Green European Foundation will host a workshop about Basic Income during the upcoming 9th Edition of Univerde, a University Summer program that is one of the largest forums for debate on ecology and politics in Spain. Univerde is organized by the Green European Foundation together with the EQUO foundation with support from the political party Los Verdes/ALE and the European Parliament.
The event will take place at the University of La Rioja in Logroño, Spain on September 8 and 9. The Basic Income Workshop will happen on September 9. Participants include: Philippe Van Parijs, Belgian philosopher and political economist, and a professor at the Faculty of Economics, Social and Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Louvain; Hontanares Arran, Member of the Movimiento ATD Cuarto Mundo and member of EQUO; Lluís Torrens, economist, member of the Basic Income Network and Director of Planning and Innovation of the Social Rights Area of the Barcelona City Council; Julen Bollai, economist and researcher, member of the Basque Parliament with the Coalition of Elkarrekin Podemos, and member of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN); and Jorge M. Neira, member of EQUO.
The workshop titled “Moving towards Basic Income: a Pilot Program for the City of Madrid” will evaluate Basic Income as an alternative to poverty and exclusion. it will look at the possibility of developing a pilot program at a local level in Madrid to prepare for a generalized implementation of Basic Income. They will analyze the proposal suggested by the Spanish organization Marea Básica for a pilot program in a neighborhood in Madrid that is riddled with poverty and exclusion. Experts on Basic Income will give their opinion on this possible pilot program, and the workshop will be used to debate Basic Income as a social protection alternative that is ecologically sustainable.
More Information
[In English]
Univerde IX Edition in Spain
Moving towards Basic Income at Univerde
Kate McFarland, “MADRID, SPAIN: “UBI is Coming!” (UBIE conference, Oct 15-16)”, October 12th, 2016
[In Spanish]
Program of the Univerde Workshops
Marea Básica
