Current Projects

The Cash Transfer Lab conducts and faciliates research on cash transfers across multiple subject areas. You can find details on the various Cash Transfer Lab and affiliate projects below.

Health

Housing

Families

Methods

Migration

Inequality & Poverty

 

Health

Testing the Relationship Between Income and Newborn Health Using an Unconditional Cash Transfer 

This project examines the effect of an unconditional cash transfer on newborn health. It advances a theoretical model whereby a cohort’s health at birth is a function of two primary mechanisms a fertility selection process whereby some fetuses survive to a live birth and others do not and a prenatal behavior mechanism

  • Dr.  Sarah K. Cowan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New York University; Founder and Executive Director, Cash Transfer Lab

  • Dr. Kiara Douds, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington University in St. Louis

Presentations: 

April 13, 2022 - Mouhcine Guettabi and Allison Witman: “Income Shocks and Healthcare Utilization”

 

The Heterogeneous Associations of Universal Cash-Payouts with Breastfeeding Initiation and Continuation, Social Science & Medicine-Population Health, 2023;, 101362,            https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101362

This project investigates the effect of the PFD on Alaskan mothers' breastfeeding initiation and continuation.

  • Dr. Mariana Amorim, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington State University

  • Dr. Anna Zamora-Kapoor, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Medical Education and Clinical Sciences

  • Erica Hobby, MPA, Assistant Director and Senior Research, Cash Transfer Lab

  • Kathy Perham-Hester, MS, MPH, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services

  • Dr. Sarah K. Cowan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New York University; Founder and Executive Director, Cash Transfer Lab

     

Impacts of Universal Cash Transfer on Health Outcomes using Mortality and Claims Data

This project studies both longer-term and short-term effects of the PFD and additional dollar amounts on all-cause mortality, suicide, overdose deaths as well as various morbidity and prescription use for mental health.

  • Dr. Byungkyu Lee, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

  • Dr. Brea Perry, Professor of Sociology, Indiana University

Presentations: 

Mar 21, 2022 - Dr. BK Lee and Dr. Brea Perry: "Impacts of Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend on Suicide and Mental Health Outcomes Using Mortality and Claims Data"

 

Housing

Exploring the Impact of Cash Transfers on Foreclosure Activity

This project will investigate whether variation in the timing and generosity of payments from Alaska’s permanent fund dividend (PFD) affect the likelihood of foreclosure.

  • Dr. Jacob Faber, Associate  Professor of Sociology and Public Service, New  York University

  • Christina Nelson, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, New York University

 

Families

Examining the Effects of a Universal Cash Transfer on Fertility, Social Forces, 2022;, soac013, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac013

This project examines the effect of cash transfers on fertility and abortion among a large and diverse population that has received the PFD over time.

  • Dr.  Sarah K. Cowan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New York University; Founder and Executive Director, Cash Transfer Lab

  • Dr. Kiara Douds, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington University in St. Louis

     

Socioeconomic Disparities in Parental Spending after Universal Cash Transfers: The Case of the Alaska Dividend, Social Forces, 2021;, soab119, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab119

This paper examines the effects of income gains due to universal and unconditional cash transfers from the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend on child-related spending. 

  • Dr. Mariana Amorim, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington State University

     

The Implications of Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) Receipt for Families with Children Across the Socioeconomic Spectrum

A qualitative research project using in-depth semi-structured interviews with over 50 Alaskan families to better understand how the social meanings, resource-allocation, and implications of universal transfers vary by socioeconomic background.

  • Dr. Mariana Amorim, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Washington State University

  • Dr. Jeff Sallaz, Professor of Sociology, The University of Arizona

 

The Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Universal Basic Income on Child Maltreatment

This project examines the effect of a universal basic income (UBI) on child welfare involvement in both the short- and long-term by studying Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD).

  • Dr. Lindsey Bullinger, Assistant Professor  of Public Policy, Georgia Tech

 

Methods

Synthetic Control and Categorical or Compositional Covariates

This project explores the sensitivity of synthetic control methods to the choice of omitted reference category when including categorical or compositional covariates among pre-treatment balancing covariates and aims to produce an alternative approach that is not dependent on these choices traditionally treated as arbitrary.

  • Dr. Robert Pickett, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cash Transfer Lab, New York University

  • Dr. Sarah K. Cowan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New York University; Founder and Executive Director, Cash Transfer Lab

  • Dr. Jennifer Hill, Professor of Applied Statistics; Director of Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology; and Co-Director of Applied Statistics for Social Science Research Masters Program at New York University

     

Exploring Dynamic Causal Estimation Strategies to Understand the PFD

Alaska's PFD provides an interesting but challenging causal estimation problem, where a treatment group is repeatedly exposed to annual treatments of varying dosages. This project attempts to explore best practices for causal estimation under these conditions.

  • Dr. Robert Pickett, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cash Transfer Lab, New York University

  • Dr. Sarah K. Cowan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, New York University; Founder and Executive Director, Cash Transfer Lab

  • Dr. Jennifer Hill, Professor of Applied Statistics; Director of Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology; and Co-Director of Applied Statistics for Social Science Research Masters Program at New York University

Presentations: 

May 25, 2022 - Dr. Robert Pickett, Hosted by American Casual Inference Conference - The University of California Berkeley University: “Susceptibility of Synthetic Control Methods to Reference Category Choice”

March 22, 2022 - Dr. Robert Pickett, Hosted by the University of Alaska - Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research Seminar Series: "Causal Estimation and the Permanent Fund Dividend: Ongoing Work from the Cash Transfer Lab"

 

Migration

Cash Transfers & Strategic Migration

This project estimates the effect of a universal cash transfer program on interstate migration within the United States.

  • Alexander James, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage

  • Brett Watson, Assistant Professor of Applied and Natural Resource Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage

 

Inequality & Poverty

Measuring the Effects of Recent Reductions in Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends on Poverty

This project investigates how changes in the amount of the annual Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend are associated with changes in poverty rates in Alaska.

  • Matthew Berman, Professor of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage