All Alaska residents get a check from the state every year; the money comes from a fund that was created from oil revenues.

Some researchers wanted to find out if that kind of arrangement could work in other places, and whether getting essentially free money from the government dissuades people from working.

Ioana Marinescu is one of those researchers. She's a labor economist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, and she joins me.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been modified to correct the spelling of Ioana Marinescu's name.