Katherine Richard
krzrich@umich.edu
Welcome! I am a PhD Candidate in Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I employ applied econometric techniques to understand how low income households make ends meet over short time horizons. My prior joint work has explored effects of unanticipated delays to transfer income and effects of unconditional cash transfers during the COVID-19 pandemic. My current projects study the role of work requirement enforcement and multiple benefit issuance timing on access to resources for low income families. My work is funded with support from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Publications
“The COVID-19 Cash Transfer Study II: The Hardship and Mental Health Impacts of an Unconditional Cash Transfer to Low-Income Individuals” (joint with Jacob, B. Pilkauskas, N., Rhodes, E. and Shaefer, H.L.) National Tax Journal, September 2022, 75(3)
This paper reports findings from a randomized controlled trial of a one-time, $1,000 unconditional cash transfer to low-income households in October 2020. We use a combination of administrative and survey data collected six weeks posttreatment to examine four preregistered hypotheses: impacts on material hardship and mental health in the full study sample as well as among a very low-income sample. We find no effects of the cash transfer on any of the prespecified or other exploratory outcomes. We explore various explanations for these null results and discuss implications for future research on unconditional cash transfer programs.
“Spending Responses to High-Frequency Shifts in Payment Timing: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit” (joint with Aladangady, A., Aron-Dine, S., Cashin, D., Dunn, W., Feiveson, L. Lengermann, P. and Sahm, C.), American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, August 2023
This study explores how shifts in the timing of large lump-sum payments to households affect spending. Using a novel data set combining daily, state-level measures of retail sales with IRS administrative data on tax refund issuance, we exploit plausibly exogenous, high-frequency variation across states in the timing of tax refunds to households claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, particularly variation resulting from the 2017 PATH Act. Retail spending increases by 27 cents per refund dollar, implying an extra $1,150 of spending associated with the average refund within just two weeks of issuance. Results show non-durable and services expenditures increase along with durables, suggesting a considerable consumption response to the two-week shift in the timing of a large, predictable payment. Our results, which provide a lower bound on spending out of lump-sum payments, are informative for the efficacy of lump-sum transfers, including stimulus payments made during the recent recession.
“The COVID Cash Transfer Study: The Impacts of a One-Time Unconditional Cash Transfer on the Wellbeing of Families receiving SNAP in Twelve States” (joint with Jacob, B. Pilkauskas, N., Rhodes, E. and Shaefer, H.L.), Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, February 2023
There is growing interest in the use of unconditional cash transfers as a means to alleviate poverty, yet little is known about the effects of such transfers in the U.S. This paper reports on the results of a randomized controlled study of a one-time $1,000 unconditional cash transfer in May 2020 to low-income families in twelve states in the U.S. Families were receiving, or had recently received, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. We examine the impact of the cash transfer on five pre-registered outcomes (hardship, mental health, parenting, child behavior, partner relationships) and several secondary outcomes (hardship avoidance, consumption, employment, benefit use). We find no statistically significant effects (powered to detect effects of 0.09 standard deviations) of the cash transfer on any outcomes for the full sample. In pre-specified exploratory analyses, we find significant reductions in material hardship (-0.17 standard deviations) among families with less than $500 of earnings in the previous month, roughly the bottom 50 percent of monthly earnings for the study sample.
Research In Progress
“Penalties in the Safety Net: Effects of Work Requirement Enforcement on Household Resources” (Joint with Lea Bart)
U.S. cash assistance promotes self-sufficiency through work. When recipients do not meet work requirements, governments impose sanctions that reduce or remove benefits for periods of time. This paper uses administrative data covering all families ever attached to Michigan Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and subject to work requirements between 2009-2018 to quantify effects of benefit removal on household safety net attachment and labor supply in a difference in differences event study framework. Our findings indicate that increasing sanctions from 3 to 6 months lowers long term TANF re-attachment by 30 percentage points and SNAP enrollment by 5 percentage points. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that both extensive and intensive margin labor supply decrease when sanctions duration increases. Our findings suggest that harsher work sanctions generate long-term reductions in safety net attachment and are not offset by increased labor earnings on average.
“Monthly Resource Allocation amongst the Least Financially Liquid: Effects of SNAP and TANF Issuance Frequency”
“Effects of Reducing Safety Net Screening Complexity on Access and Retention” (Joint with Julia Yates)
Other Writing
“The COVID Cash Transfer Studies: Key Findings and Future Directions” (joint with Jacob, B. Pilkauskas, N., Rhodes, E. and Shaefer, H.L.), University of Michigan Poverty Solutions Research Brief, June 2022