Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322291 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 471
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Why is in-kind aid a prominent feature of welfare systems? We present a lab-in-the-field experiment involving members of the general U.S. population and SNAP recipients. After documenting a widespread desire to limit recipients' choices, we quantify the relative importance of (i) welfarist motives, (ii) utility or disutility derived from curtailing another's autonomy, and (iii) absolutist attitudes concerning the appropriate form of aid. Choices primarily reflect the two non-welfarist motives. Because people systematically misperceive recipient preferences, their interventions are more restrictive than they intend. Interventionist preferences and non-welfarist motives are more pronounced among the political right, particularly when recipients are black.
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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