The Earned Income Tax Credit distributes more than $60 billion to over 20 million low-income families annually. Nevertheless, an estimated one-fifth of eligible households do not claim it. We ran six preregistered, large-scale field experiments with 1 million observations to test whether “nudges” could increase EITC take-up. Despite varying the content, design, messenger, and mode of our messages, we find no evidence that they affected households’ likelihood of filing a tax return or claiming the credit. We conclude that even the most behaviorally informed low-touch outreach efforts cannot overcome the barriers faced by low-income households who do not file returns. (JEL C93, D91, H24, I38)
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) distributes more than $60 billion to over 20 million lowincome families annually. Nevertheless, an estimated one-fifth of eligible households do not claim it. We ran six pre-registered, large-scale field experiments to test whether "nudges" could increase EITC take-up (N=1million). Despite varying the content, design, messenger, and mode of our messages, we find no evidence that they affected households' likelihood of filing a tax return or claiming the credit. We conclude that even the most behaviorally informed low-touch outreach efforts cannot overcome the barriers faced by low-income households who do not file returns.
Multi-touch trackpads have the advantage over traditional pointing devices (mice) in being able to recognize and act on finger gestures, such as pinching, rotating, and swiping. The primary objective of this study was to quantify the effects of desktop-trackpad size and input mapping on performance, posture and discomfort. Three trackpad sizes (112X63 mm, 178X100 mm, 230 X130 mm) and two types of input mapping, the traditional relative mapping with ‘cursor acceleration’ and absolute mapping, were tested. Subjects performed a series of target acquisition tasks (drag and select) while the dependent variables were recorded. Results suggest that peripheral indirect-touch pointing devices with a width between 112 and 178 mm and a depth between 63 and 100 mm may provide an appropriate balance between cost, footprint, performance, and comfort.
The authors use de-identified data from California personal income tax returns to measure the frequency and nature of independent contracting and self-employment in California. They identify this work by the presence of a Schedule C on the tax return and/or the receipt of a Form 1099 information return. The authors estimate that 14.4% of California workers aged 18 to 64 in tax year 2016 had some independent contracting or self-employment income and approximately half of this subgroup also had earnings from traditional W-2 jobs during the year. Only a small share (1.4%) of workers had earnings from online labor platforms (often called gig work). Workers with low earnings were significantly more likely to earn independent contracting or self-employment income and to rely primarily or exclusively on that income. The article explores the characteristics of workers engaging in independent contracting and self-employment and their distribution across family type, geography, and industry.
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