Purpose and Design of the Rural Income Maintenance Experiment

Abstract

The Rural Income Maintenance Experiment (RIME) was the second of four major experiments to test the behavioral consequences of a universal income-conditioned cash transfer program. It followed closely its predecessor, the New Jersey Income Maintenance Experiment, in objectives and design. Of the four experiments, it is the only one focusing on the rural sector (farmers and those in towns with population less than 2,500). This paper describes the setting that spawned experimentation with a universal income-conditioned transfer program (commonly referred to as the negative income tax), gives the rationale for the RIME, and sets forth its objectives and basic design.