American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Does Extending Unemployment Benefits Improve Job Quality?
American Economic Review
vol. 107,
no. 2, February 2017
(pp. 527–61)
Abstract
Contrary to standard search models predictions, past studies have not found a positive effect of unemployment insurance (UI) on reemployment wages. We estimate a positive UI wage effect exploiting an age-based regression discontinuity design in Austria. A search model incorporating duration dependence predicts two countervailing forces: UI induces workers to seek higher-wage jobs, but reduces wages by lengthening unemployment. Matching-function heterogeneity plausibly generates a negative relationship between the UI unemployment-duration and wage effects, which holds empirically in our sample and across studies, reconciling disparate wage-effect estimates. Empirically, UI raises wages by improving reemployment firm quality and attenuating wage drops.Citation
Nekoei, Arash, and Andrea Weber. 2017. "Does Extending Unemployment Benefits Improve Job Quality?" American Economic Review, 107 (2): 527–61. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150528Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- J64 Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
- J65 Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings