Seb Jilke
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sebjilke.bsky.social
Seb Jilke
@sebjilke.bsky.social
1.7K followers 510 following 83 posts
Assoc Prof at Georgetown McCourt & Co-director Better Government Lab \\ Evidence-based Policy Implementation, Behavioral Public Administration \\ Otherwise mediocre whitewater gnar 🌊🛶

http://www.sebastianjilke.net

https://www.bettergovernmentlab.org
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Reposted by Seb Jilke
davekarpf.bsky.social
Y’know there’s really nothing more Econ than reproducing something that happened in polisci a decade ago and claiming it as original.
May 17, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Seb Jilke
donmoyn.bsky.social
It's not just health policies that matter to mortality. See this paper (w @pamherd.bsky.social @sebjilke.bsky.social @traceesaunders.bsky.social) that shows that enrollment in Supplemental Security Income reduces mortality rates.
osf.io/download/67e...
Many eligible individuals do not enroll in social safety net programs because of burdensome administrative procedures, ranging from confusion about eligibility guidelines to complicated paperwork. But what happens when eligible individuals don't take up benefits for which they’re eligible? While we know the short-term impacts, such as forgone income and benefits, the long-term consequences of these losses remain poorly understood. We examine the mortality impacts of burden reduction – particularly learning costs associated with understanding eligibility and benefits – for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Using data from a large-scale randomized controlled trial (N=4,016,461) in which informational letters were sent to older adults likely eligible but not enrolled in SSI, we estimate the mortality effects of older adults’ subsequent enrollment in SSI. The intervention increased SSI awards by an estimated 1.8 percentage points (or a 340 percent increase from a baseline enrollment rate of 0.5 percent). Among those who enrolled in SSI, we estimate a meaningful reduction in mortality (Hazard Ratio=0.6101, 95% CI=0.5127 - 0.7075). These results demonstrate that burden reduction increased access to social welfare programs like SSI in the short-term and may have significant downstream impacts by reducing beneficiaries’ mortality risk.
May 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
sebjilke.bsky.social
I agree caring abt real world effects of bundles is policy relevant. But so are net effects of aspects of a bundle, bcs they can help us uncover theoretical mechanisms (also policy relevant). Imo, the Q is not A vs B, but what do we learn from both in concert.
February 18, 2025 at 5:06 PM
sebjilke.bsky.social
Thanks, my friend!
February 11, 2025 at 9:32 PM
sebjilke.bsky.social
Depends who you ask ;). I’d say possibly selection bias (our study is based on full census of Ravensburg adults), but tbf, saturation of demand (ie, timing of the intervention) might play a role as well.
February 7, 2025 at 7:38 PM
sebjilke.bsky.social
Cc @johnt1.bsky.social @dominikvogel.bsky.social @flokeppeler.bsky.social . Much thanks to @erezyoeli.bsky.social for great comments and support throughout the process!
John Ternovski (@johnt1.bsky.social)
social scientist, assistant prof and analyst @ Air Force Academy (all opinions expressed my own)
johnt1.bsky.social
February 7, 2025 at 7:23 PM