Health effects of cash transfers: Evidence from the Finnish basic income experiment
Journal of Public Economics · 2025 · Kari Hämäläinen、Miska Simanainen、Jouko Verho
中文摘要
本研究提供了因果证据，表明现金转移支付项目有望缓解发达国家的收入—健康陷阱。我们分析了芬兰基本收入试验：在2017—2018年间，该试验针对随机选取的2,000名失业者，以保障收入取代最低失业救济金。保障收入取消了所有求职要求，但参与者仍可选择申领失业救济金并履行相关义务。该试验还使平均收入提高了9%—11%，原因有二：基本收入款项与试验前期间应发的福利待遇发生重叠，且基本收入不会随劳动收入的增加而递减。利用所有处方药和专科医疗就诊的登记数据，我们发现，该试验使精神类药物使用量减少了8%—11%。我们的结果还表明，专科医疗中的门诊心理健康就诊次数有所下降。对于其他健康结果，未检测到任何效应。由于大多数参与者选择不采用该试验的无条件性安排，并继续申领失业救济金，我们将观测到的健康效应主要归因于收入的增加。
Abstract
This study provides causal evidence that cash transfer programs have the potential to alleviate the income–health trap in advanced countries. We analyze the Finnish basic income experiment, which replaced the minimum unemployment benefits with a guaranteed income for 2,000 randomly selected unemployed persons during the years 2017–2018. The guaranteed income removed all job–search requirements, but participants could still choose to claim unemployment benefits and comply with related obligations. The experiment also increased average income by 9 %–11 %, for two reasons: basic income payments overlapped with benefits due from the pre-experiment period, and basic income was not tapered against labor earnings. Using register data on all prescription medications and secondary care visits, we find that the experiment reduced psychotropic drug use by 8 %–11 %. Our results also suggest a decline in outpatient mental health visits for secondary care. No effects were detected for other health outcomes. Since most participants opted out of the unconditionality aspect of the experiment and continued to claim unemployment benefits, we attribute the observed health effects primarily to the increased income.