Estimates of effective tax rates on earned and unearned income and estimates of effective guarantees in the AFDC program by state are provided for the period 1967-1982. The results indicate that effective real guarantees fell every year from 1967 to 1981 but stabilized in 1982. Effective tax...

An important source of errors in transfer payments programs is the fraudulent misreporting of earnings received by recipients. We propose a model of the recipient's decision to report income and the expected penalties if caught engaging in fraud. We discuss several features of the detection and...

Tax and transfer programs inevitably create incentives relating to the size and composition of households. Examples of such incentives are the "marriage penalty," dependents exemptions, and the eligibility rules for categorical welfare programs. This paper notes that changes in transfer program...