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Short-Time Compensation as a Tool to Mitigate Job Loss? Evidence on the U.S. Experience During the Recent Recession

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  • Katharine G. Abraham
  • Susan N. Houseman

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="irel12069-abs-0001"> During the recent recession only seventeen states offered short-time compensation (STC)—prorated unemployment benefits for workers whose hours are reduced for economic reasons. Federal legislation passed in 2012 will encourage the expansion of STC. Exploiting cross-state variation in STC, we present new evidence indicating that jobs saved during the recession as a consequence of STC may have been significant in manufacturing, but that the overall scale of the STC program was generally too small to have substantially mitigated aggregate job losses in the seventeen states. Expansion of the program is necessary for STC to be an effective countercyclical tool in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharine G. Abraham & Susan N. Houseman, 2014. "Short-Time Compensation as a Tool to Mitigate Job Loss? Evidence on the U.S. Experience During the Recent Recession," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 543-567, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:53:y:2014:i:4:p:543-567
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General

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