Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This study examines the impact of the National Basic Livelihood Security (NBLS) program of South Korea on changes in family consumption related to the human capital investment. A regression discontinuity (RD) design are adopted while considering that program participation is largely decided by whether a household income is below an official poverty line or not. Using the 2014 & 2015 Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) data set, I find that the program eligibility increases 64% of the probability of NBLS participation (p<0.001) at the threshold where pre-program household incomes are equal to official poverty lines. We could not find the statistically significant difference on changes in total, medical, and education expenditures between the recipient and non-recipient families, which remains robust through sensitivity analysis.