TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Vethaak, Heike
AU  - Bruijn, Ernst-Jan de
AU  - Knoef, Marike
AU  - Koning, Pierre
        TI  - Deter and Deteriorate: The Effects of Application Processing Times on Welfare Receipt and Employment
        PY  - 2025/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 17839
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp17839
        AB  - This paper investigates the effects of application processing times on welfare applicants’ benefit and employment outcomes. For causal inference, we exploit exogenous variation in application processing times stemming from the random assignment of caseworkers. Our findings indicate that longer application processing times deter applicants from receiving benefits, particularly those with better labor market prospects. In contrast, for applicants who eventually receive benefits, longer processing times reduce labor market attachment and increase benefit dependency. Finally, using exogenous variation in caseworkers’ provision of benefit prepayments, we find that the receipt of welfare prepayments increases the employment and earnings of awarded applicants. This suggests that reduced financial stress improves successful job search.
        KW  - instrumental variables
KW  - benefit prepayments
KW  - processing times
KW  - program application
KW  - welfare benefits
        ER  -