Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Determinants Of Old Age Assistance In The American States, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A large body of research evidence has accumulated in the past two decades dealing with the question of variations in state-level public expenditures in the United States. Variations among the states in public welfare expenditures are the most outstanding exception with regard to the explanation of state governmental expenditures. This study explores the reasons that public welfare is so unlike other public expenditures, outlines the principal findings of other studies bearing on this question, and reports findings explaining at least part of the observed variations in the expenditure patterns.