Program Overview

Introduction to the Seminar

The Seminar "Basic Income Field Experiments" was taught by GWP Guest Professor Karl Widerquist in the Summer Term 2022. This 6 ECTS lecture-seminar was based on Karl Widerquist's research on UBI experiments and the broad range of research on UBI experiments.

Seminar Details

• The seminar took place on Fridays from 3-6pm, from April 29 to June 3, in room R 02 012 (Rempartstraße 10-16).
• The seminar was taught in English language.
• The primary reading for the seminar included:
  • Karl Widerquist, 2005. "A Failure to Communicate: What (if Anything) Can We Learn From the Negative Income Tax Experiments?" the Journal of Socio-Economics 34 (1): 49-81
  • Karl Widerquist, 2018. A Critical Analysis of Basic Income Experiments for Researchers, Policymakers, and Citizens, New York: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Roberto Merrill (editor), 2021, Special Issue on Basic Income Experiments, Ethical Perspectives 28 (1), March, pages 1-115
• A long list of additional reading was available on the syllabus, and all students were required to do at least some of the additional reading.

Seminar Structure

The seminar began with a discussion of the politics and economics of the 1970s Negative Income Tax experiments in the United States and Canada. This was followed by several lectures and discussions based on the book A Critical Discussion of Basic Income Experiments, and concluded with student reports involving critical analysis of recent or ongoing UBI experiments around the world.

Registration and Participation

• The registration period for the seminar had begun.
• Places in the course were limited, and students were advised to only join if they were able to participate.
• In the event of capacity being exceeded, places were allocated on a first come, first served basis.