Essays on applied microeconomics

This paper investigates the effect of losing welfare benefits on local household financial distress and crime. We estimate this effect using a quasi-experiment in which Indiana outsourced and automated the processing of TANF, food stamps, and Medicaid applications. Using consumer credit panel data, we explore this variation to find that the Indiana welfare automation program significantly increased the number of accounts in collections, collections balances, bankruptcy filings, and decreased credit scores. Using data from the Uniform Crime Reporting series, we find that welfare automation policy has also increased crime, primarily property crimes. In the second paper I use a propensity score matching strategy to estimate the returns to for-profit higher education on labor outcomes. We estimate that grant recipients had a relative increase in wages 0.40% four years after receiving the grant(Average Treatment on the Treated). Further, I evaluate potential heterogeneity in treatment effects on race, gender, and age. The unique empirical setting allows for estimating the impact for an extensive range of ages. I find consistently large returns even for older recipients. In the third paper, motivated by the literature in the intersection of economics and political science, I investigate if black mayor’s breakthrough elections might have contributed to the phenomenon of White flight from US cities. Our results suggest there were some demographic changes associated with the event of the breakthrough election, but we cannot fully separate or identify these effects from secular effects in U.S. cities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Rodrigues Silva Tabak, Daniel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Marx, Benjamin M.
• Christensen, Peter
• Garin, Andrew L.
• Bartik, Alexander W.

• Welfare Removal
• Snap
• Tanf
• Medicaid
• Indiana
• Crime
• Financial Wellbeing.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Daniel Rodrigues Silva Tabak

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120417

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F120417