Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples PDF
Preview Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples
Targeting in Social Programs Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples Peter H. Schuck & Richard J. Zeckhauser 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page i Targeting in Social Programs 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page ii 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page iii Targeting in Social Programs Avoiding Bad Bets, Removing Bad Apples Peter H. Schuck Richard J. Zeckhauser brookings institution press Washington,D.C. 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page iv ABOUT BROOKINGS The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, educa- tion, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to bear on cur- rent and emerging policy problems. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publica- tions should be understood to be solely those of the authors. Copyright © 2006 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 www.brookings.edu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings Institution Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Schuck, Peter H. Targeting in social programs : avoiding bad bets, removing bad apples / Peter H. Schuck, Richard J. Zeckhauser. p. cm. Summary: “Provides a framework for analyzing the challenges involved in defining bad bets and bad apples and discusses the safeguards that any classification process must pro- vide. Examines public schools, public housing, and medical care and proposes policy changes that could reduce the problems these two groups pose in social welfare pro- grams”—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8157-7880-6 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8157-7880-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Public welfare administration—United States. 2. Human services—Government policy—United States. 3. United States—Social policy—1993–. I. Zeckhauser, Richard. II. Title. HV95.S38 2006 361.6'120973—dc22 2006029184 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials: ANSI Z39.48-1992. Typeset in Adobe Garamond Composition by Kulamer Publishing Services Potomac, Maryland Printed by R. R. Donnelley Harrisonburg, Virginia 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page v We dedicate this work to our wives, Marcy and Sally, and to a Schuck–Zeckhauser friendship that stretches over 50 years. 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page vi 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Conceptual Foundations of Target Efficiency 7 3 High Stakes, Misguided Evasions, and Bad Policies 27 4 Avoiding Bad Bets 46 5 Removing Bad Apples 75 6 Predictive Accuracy and Procedural Protection 99 7 Better Information, Better Targeting, and Better Policies 129 Notes 137 Index 163 vii 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page viii 00 7880-6 front.qxd 9/24/2006 2:00 PM Page ix Acknowledgments T his book could not have been written without the assistance of many people and institutions. We benefited from com- ments, constructive even when skeptical, from fellow scholars including Henry Aaron, Richard Arum, David Cutler, Jack Don- ahue, Lee Ann Fennell, Christopher Jencks, Ron Haskins, Jeffrey Liebman, and Benjamin Sommers, as well as from participants in seminars at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the law schools at New York University, Yale, and the University of Geor- gia where we presented earlier versions of our work. Special thanks go to David Super for reading several chapters and improving our presentation. Two wise medical practitioners, Dr. Samuel Osher and Dr. Randy Reinhold, pointed us in fruitful directions, and our investigations of agency practices in New York City, presented in chapter 5, were facilitated by public officials identified in the notes. Outstanding and extensive research assistance was provided by Melissa Cox (herself a Brookings co-author), who was assisted at one point by Joey Fishkin—both members of the Yale Law School class of 2007. Anda Bordean, Deanna Dong, Felipe Kast, and Nils Wernerfelt, all Harvard students, effectively undertook specific research tasks. Miriam Avins used her deft pen to greatly ix
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