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Public Policy in a Time of Crisis: A Framework for Evaluating Canada’s COVID-19 Income Support Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Kourtney Koebel
  • Dionne Pohler
  • Rafael Gomez
  • Akshay Mohan

Abstract

Income support programs introduced for workers during the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns faced criticism for their negative labour supply effects. We propose that these concerns about work disincentives are embedded in restrictive assumptions about work and led to suboptimal design of crisis support policies. We describe a framework for analyzing alternative crisis income support programs predicated on more realistic assumptions of labour markets and human motivation. Our framework proposes that balancing efficiency, equity, and voice objectives should be the goal of crisis labour market policies. We argue that adoption of a basic income targeted toward low-income workers, in combination with Canada’s pre-existing Employment Insurance program, would have balanced efficiency, equity, and voice better than the combination of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. A targeted basic income would also have been more effective at achieving stated public health objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Kourtney Koebel & Dionne Pohler & Rafael Gomez & Akshay Mohan, 2021. "Public Policy in a Time of Crisis: A Framework for Evaluating Canada’s COVID-19 Income Support Programs," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 47(2), pages 316-333, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:47:y:2021:i:2:p:316-333
    DOI: 10.3138/cpp.2020-117
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    Cited by:

    1. Koebel, Kourtney & Pohler, Dionne, 2024. "The effect of an unconditional government income transfer on the labour supply of lowincome workers," CLEF Working Paper Series 76, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    2. Danielle Lamb & Rafael Gomez & Milad Moghaddas, 2022. "Unions and hazard pay for COVID‐19: Evidence from the Canadian Labour Force Survey," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 606-634, September.
    3. Yahong Zhang, 2022. "Unemployment Benefits and Wage Subsidies -- Effects of Labour Market Policies during a Pandemic," Working Papers 2203, University of Windsor, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2022.
    4. Berniell, Inés & Gasparini, Leonardo & Marchionni, Mariana & Viollaz, Mariana, 2023. "Lucky women in unlucky cohorts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

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