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FEDERAL TRANSFER PAYMENTS IN AMERICA: VETERANS‘ PENSIONS AND THE RISE OF SOCIAL SECURITY
Author(s) -
Baack Ben,
Ray Edward John
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1988.tb01523.x
Subject(s) - social security , pension , payment , transfer payment , social welfare , welfare , state (computer science) , economics , public economics , public administration , welfare state , administration (probate law) , old age security , business , actuarial science , political science , finance , sociology , law , politics , market economy , population , demography , algorithm , birth rate , computer science , research methodology
This paper examines the determinants of the adoption of the veterans' pension program and how it served as a prototype for the creation and administration of the federal welfare system in the United States. We provide statistical evidence in the form of an analysis of votes in the House of Representatives that state‐based special interests which had supported the ongoing liberalization of the veterans' pension program provided significant support for the adoption of the Social Security Act of 1935. There is clear evidence the social security system was not adopted as a simple extension of state old‐age pension programs.