This academic article develops a framework for evaluating whether and how automated decision-making welfare systems introduce new harms and burdens for claimants, focusing on an example case from Germany.
This paper concludes that the substantial COVID-19 unemployment insurance expansion had limited disincentive effects on job searches, particularly among lower-income individuals, despite high wage replacement rates.
A recent study challenges the common belief that income support programs like SNAP reduce employment, finding that for individuals with a work history, receiving SNAP benefits can actually increase long-term employment.
Errors in administrative processes are costly and burdensome for clients but are understudied. Using U.S. Unemployment Insurance data, this study finds that while automation improves accuracy in simpler programs, it can increase errors in more complex ones.
This article analyzes the strategic use of public policy as a tool for reshaping public opinion. Though progressive revisionists in the 1990s argued that reforming welfare could produce a public more willing to invest in anti-poverty efforts, welfare reform in the 1990s did little to shift public opinion. This study investigates the general conditions under which mass feedback effects should be viewed as more or less likely.
Well-designed, user-focused tools that allow for simple application are key to ensuring that families most in need receive the Child Tax Credit. Reaching these households will require a robust effort from the IRS to create user-friendly tools in partnership with organizations with a direct connection to eligible recipients.
This paper explores how legacy procurement processes in U.S. cities shape the acquisition and governance of AI tools, based on interviews with local government employees.
An academic research paper introducing SHADES, a multilingual benchmark designed to evaluate how large language models (LLMs) generate and reinforce stereotypes across different languages and cultural contexts.
A TLDR of the State CDO Archetypes report—covering how state CDO offices operate and the six archetypes that define them. Written for event attendees and government staff: governor's office, IT and budget leadership, legal and data officials, and legislators who oversee CDO funding and establishment.
This brief analyzes the current state of federal and state government communication around benefits eligibility rules and policy and how these documents are being tracked and adapted into code by external organizations. This work includes comparisons between coded examples of policy and potential options for standardizing code based on established and emerging data standards, tools, and frameworks.
