American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
SSI for Disabled Immigrants: Why Do Ethnic Networks Matter?
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 3, May 2013
(pp. 462–66)
Abstract
Immigrants residing among many coethnics are especially likely to receive SSI for a disability when they belong to high SSI take-up immigrant groups. After showing that this relationship cannot be fully explained by differences in health, we consider the likely sources of these network effects by separately examining their role in the decision to apply for SSI and, conditional on applying, their role in determining who ultimately receives benefits. Our results suggest that networks may increase the probability of applying for SSI despite minor disabilities, but it is unlikely that network effects are driven by egregious lies on applications.Citation
Furtado, Delia, and Nikolaos Theodoropoulos. 2013. "SSI for Disabled Immigrants: Why Do Ethnic Networks Matter?" American Economic Review, 103 (3): 462–66. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.462Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H55 Social Security and Public Pensions
- I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
- I38 Welfare and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination