The concept of a basic income, a regular cash payment made to every individual without means-test or work requirement, has been gaining traction in recent years. Proponents argue that it could help to address a range of social issues, including increased social exclusion resulting from precarious, poorly paid work. However, opponents worry that it would disincentivise people from working.

This thesis examines the potential impact of basic income on job search activity amongst unemployed people (aged 20-54), comparing the job search behaviour of unemployed people in countries with different welfare regimes.  

The thesis develops a new conceptual framework for examining existing welfare regimes through the lens of basic income, using set theoretic methods to build an ideal type welfare regime based on the basic income principles of unconditionality, universality, and non-withdrawable payments.

These three mechanisms are then used as conditions in a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The outcome measure is job search intensity, based on time use micro data. The QCA seeks to establish conditions that are necessary or sufficient for high or low job search activity amongst the unemployed. Findings from case studies then help to identify potential underlying causal mechanisms to expand understanding of the causal effects of the welfare mechanisms on the behaviour of unemployed people.

The thesis finds that welfare regimes that are more akin to a basic income do not inherently produce either high or low levels of job search activity and concludes that the institutional context into which a basic income is placed would have a significant impact on its overall effects on labour market participation.