Do Benefit Hikes Damage Job Findings?
Evidence from Swedish Unemployment Insurance Reforms
Document identifier: oai:dalea.du.se:2601
Publication year: 2007Relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

The SDG label(s) above have been assigned by OSDG.aiAbstract: In 2001 and 2002, Sweden introduced several unemployment insurance reforms. A major innovation in the first reform was the introduction of a two-tiered benefit structure for some unemployed individuals. This system involved supplementary compensation during the first 20 weeks of unemployment. The 2002 reform retained the two-tiered benefit structure but involved also substantial benefit hikes for spells exceeding 20 weeks. This paper examines how these reforms affected transitions from unemployment to employment. We take advantage of the fact that the reforms had quasi-experimental features where the 'treatments' differed considerably among unemployed individuals. We find that the reforms had strikingly different effects on job finding among men and women. The two reforms in conjunction are estimated to have increased the expected duration of unemployment among men but to have decreased the duration of unemployment among women. The overall effect on the duration of unemployment is not statistically different from zero. However, the reforms reduced job finding among men who remained unemployed for more than 20 weeks.
Authors
Helge Bennmarker
Other publications
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Kenneth Carling
Högskolan Dalarna; Statistik
Other publications
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Bertil Holmlund
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header:
identifier: oai:dalea.du.se:2601
datestamp: 2021-04-15T12:57:24Z
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recordCreationDate: 2007-03-30
identifier: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-2601
titleInfo:
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lang: eng
title: Do Benefit Hikes Damage Job Findings?
subTitle: Evidence from Swedish Unemployment Insurance Reforms
abstract: In 2001 and 2002 Sweden introduced several unemployment insurance reforms. A major innovation in the first reform was the introduction of a two-tiered benefit structure for some unemployed individuals. This system involved supplementary compensation during the first 20 weeks of unemployment. The 2002 reform retained the two-tiered benefit structure but involved also substantial benefit hikes for spells exceeding 20 weeks. This paper examines how these reforms affected transitions from unemployment to employment. We take advantage of the fact that the reforms had quasi-experimental features where the 'treatments' differed considerably among unemployed individuals. We find that the reforms had strikingly different effects on job finding among men and women. The two reforms in conjunction are estimated to have increased the expected duration of unemployment among men but to have decreased the duration of unemployment among women. The overall effect on the duration of unemployment is not statistically different from zero. However the reforms reduced job finding among men who remained unemployed for more than 20 weeks.
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publication/journal-article
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Published
3
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Bennmarker
Helge
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Carling
Kenneth
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Högskolan Dalarna
Statistik
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Bertil
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dateIssued: 2007
publisher: Blackwell
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1121-7081
1467-9914
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