5 ms·

Zvi wrote a good blog post that tried to make sense of this study: https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2022/07/07/when-giving-people-money-doesnt-help/ https://thezvi.

• ec109685 4y ago
  They made a good point here that this isn’t a random sample: “ All participants had previously applied to the organization for COVID-19 relief funds (and thus, presumably needed money). The ways in which people learned about and came to apply to the non-profit varied, with some being referred by municipal agencies (e.g., housing authorities) or social service agencies, and others conducting internet searches. About 43% of our participants (2,237 people) received funds from the non-profit before the trial began. The overwhelming majority (99%) of these participants received $500, with a median of 243 days between a participant’s pre-trial payment and the start of the trial. Less than 1% (45 participants) received a payment in under four months of when they began the trial.”