How do Extended Benefits affect Unemployment Duration? A Regression Discontinuity Approach
Abstract
This paper studies a program that extends the maximum duration of unemployment benefits from 30 weeks to 209 weeks. Interestingly, this program is targeted to individuals aged 50 years or older, living in certain eligible regions in Austria. In the evaluation, I use sharp discontinuities in treatment assignment at age 50 and at the border between eligible regions and control regions to identify the effect of extended benefits on unemployment duration. Results indicate that the duration of job search is prolonged by at least .09 weeks per additional week of benefits among men, whereas unemployment duration increases by at least .32 weeks per additional week of benefits among women. The salient differences between men and women are consistent with the lower minimum age for early retirement applying to women.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.Bibliographic Info
Paper provided by Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, DEEP in its series Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'Econométrie et d'Economie politique (DEEP) with number 06.06.Length: 30 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:lau:crdeep:06.06
Contact details of provider:
Postal: Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, DEEP, Internef, CH-1015 Lausanne
Phone: ++41 21 692.33.64
Fax: ++41 21 692.33.05
Email:
Web page: http://www.hec.unil.ch/deep/publications/cahiers/series
More information through EDIRC
Related research
Keywords: benefit duration; unemployment duration; early retirement; regression discontinuity;Other versions of this item:
- Lalive, Rafael, 2008. "How do extended benefits affect unemployment duration A regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 785-806, February.
- Lalive, Rafael, 2006. "How Do Extended Benefits Affect Unemployment Duration? A Regression Discontinuity Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 2200, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Lalive, Rafael, 2006. "How do extended benefits affect unemployment duration? A regression discontinuity approach," Working Paper Series 2006:8, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
- Rafael Lalive, 2006. "How do Extended Benefits affect Unemployment Duration? A Regression Discontinuity Approach," IEW - Working Papers 294, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
- Rafael Lalive, 2006. "How do Extended Benefits Affect Unemployment Duration? A Regression Discontinuity Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 1765, CESifo Group Munich.
- C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
- J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
- J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2006-10-07 (All new papers)
- NEP-LAB-2006-10-07 (Labour Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Åslund, Olof & Östh, John & Zenou, Yves, 2006.
"How Important is Access to Jobs? Old Question - Improved Answer,"
Working Paper Series
661, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
- Olof �slund & John �sth & Yves Zenou, 2010. "How important is access to jobs? Old question--improved answer," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 389-422, May.
- Aslund, Olof & Östh, John & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "How Important is Access to Jobs? Old Question - Improved Answer," CEPR Discussion Papers 5586, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Olof Aslund & John Osth & Yves Zenou, 2009. "How Important is Access to Jobs? Old Question - Improved Answer," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0925, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
- Aslund, Olof & Östh, John & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "How Important Is Access to Jobs? Old Question – Improved Answer," IZA Discussion Papers 2051, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Åslund, Olof & Östh, John & Zenou, Yves, 2006. "How important is access to jobs? Old question - improved answer," Working Paper Series 2006:1, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
- Dahl, Svenn-Åge & Nilsen, Øivind Anti & Vaage, Kjell, 1999.
"Work or Retirement? Exit Routes for Norwegian Elderly,"
IZA Discussion Papers
32, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Svenn-Age Dahl & Oivind Anti Nilsen & Kjell Vaage, 2000. "Work or retirement? Exit routes for Norwegian elderly," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 32(14), pages 1865-1876.
- Dahl, S.-A., Nilsen, O.A. & Vaage, K., 2000. "Work or Retirement? Exit Routes for Norwegian Elderly," Norway; Department of Economics, University of Bergen 213, Department of Economics, University of Bergen.
- Nickell, S. & Layard, R., 1997.
"Labour Market Institutions and Economic Performance,"
Papers
23, Centre for Economic Performance & Institute of Economics.
- Nickell, Stephen & Layard, Richard, 1999. "Labor market institutions and economic performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 3029-3084 Elsevier.
- Richard Layard & Stephen Nickell, 1998. "Labour Market Institutions and Economic Performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp0407, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
- Öster, Anna, 2006. "Parental unemployment and children's school performance," Working Paper Series 2006:5, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
- Lemieux, Thomas & Milligan, Kevin, 2008.
"Incentive effects of social assistance: A regression discontinuity approach,"
Journal of Econometrics,
Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 807-828, February.
- Thomas Lemieux & Kevin Milligan, 2004. "Incentive Effects of Social Assistance: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," NBER Working Papers 10541, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Lemieux, Thomas Milligan, Kevin, 2006. "Incentive Effects of Social Assistance: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2006280e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
- Caroline Minter Hoxby, 1994.
"Does Competition Among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?,"
NBER Working Papers
4979, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Caroline M. Hoxby, 2000. "Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1209-1238, December.
- Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 1998.
"Potential Unemployment Benefit Duration and Spell Length: Lessons from a Quasi-Experiment in Austria,"
Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics,
Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(1), pages 33-45, February.
- Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 1996. "Potential Unemployment Benefit Duration and Spell Length: Lessons from a Quasi-experiment in Austria," CEPR Discussion Papers 1534, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Rafael Lalive & Jan Van Ours & Josef Zweimüller, 2006. "How Changes in Financial Incentives Affect the Duration of Unemployment," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 1009-1038, October.
- Regina Riphahn, 1997. "Disability retirement and unemployment - substitute pathways for labour force exit? An empirical test for the case of Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 551-561.
- David Card & Phillip B. Levine, 1998.
"Extended Benefits and the Duration of UI Spells: Evidence from the New Jersey Extended Benefit Program,"
NBER Working Papers
6714, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Card, David & Levine, Phillip B., 2000. "Extended benefits and the duration of UI spells: evidence from the New Jersey extended benefit program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1-2), pages 107-138, October.
- David Card & Raj Chetty & Andrea Weber, 2006.
"Cash-on-Hand and Competing Models of Intertemporal Behavior: New Evidence from the Labor Market,"
NBER Working Papers
12639, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- David Card & Raj Chetty & Andrea Weber, 2007. "Cash-On-Hand and Competing Models of Intertemporal Behavior: New Evidence from the Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 122(4), pages 1511-1560, November.
- Timothy Besley & Anne Case, 1994.
"Unnatural Experiments? Estimating the Incidence of Endogenous Policies,"
NBER Working Papers
4956, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 2000. "Unnatural Experiments? Estimating the Incidence of Endogenous Policies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(467), pages F672-94, November.
- Moffitt, Robert, 1985. "Unemployment insurance and the distribution of unemployment spells," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 85-101, April.
- Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, 2002.
"Benefit Entitlement and the Labor Market: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Change,"
CESifo Working Paper Series
694, CESifo Group Munich.
- Lalive, Rafael & Zweimüller, Josef, 2002. "Benefit Entitlement and the Labor Market: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Change," IZA Discussion Papers 444, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, . "Benefit Entitlement and the Labor Market: Evidence from a Large-Scale Policy Change," IEW - Working Papers 105, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
- Katz, Lawrence F. & Meyer, Bruce D., 1990.
"The impact of the potential duration of unemployment benefits on the duration of unemployment,"
Journal of Public Economics,
Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 45-72, February.
- Lawrence F. Katz & Bruce D. Meyer, 1990. "The Impact of the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits on the Duration of Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 2741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Lawrence Katz & Bruce Meyer, 1988. "The Impact of the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits on the Duration of Unemployment," Working Papers 621, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
- Lee, David S. & Card, David, 2008.
"Regression discontinuity inference with specification error,"
Journal of Econometrics,
Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 655-674, February.
- David S. Lee & David Card, 2006. "Regression Discontinuity Inference with Specification Error," NBER Technical Working Papers 0322, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, .
"Benefit Entitlement and Unemployment Duration - The Role of Policy Endogeneity,"
IEW - Working Papers
112, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
- Lalive, Rafael & Zweimuller, Josef, 2004. "Benefit entitlement and unemployment duration: The role of policy endogeneity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2587-2616, December.
- Lalive, Rafael & Zweimüller, Josef, 2002. "Benefit Entitlement and Unemployment Duration: The Role of Policy Endogeneity," CEPR Discussion Papers 3363, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Lalive, Rafael & Zweimüller, Josef, 2002. "Benefit Entitlement and Unemployment Duration: The Role of Policy Endogeneity," IZA Discussion Papers 492, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Ours, J.C. van & Vodopivec, M., 2006. "Shortening the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits does not affect the Quality of Post-Unemployed Jobs: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Discussion Paper 2006-56, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
- Moffitt, Robert & Nicholson, Walter, 1982. "The Effect of Unemployment Insurance on Unemployment: The Case of Federal Supplemental Benefits," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-11, February.
- Hunt, Jennifer, 1995.
"The Effect of Unemployment Compensation on Unemployment Duration in Germany,"
Journal of Labor Economics,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(1), pages 88-120, January.
- Jennifer Hunt, 1992. "The Effect of Unemployment Compensation on Unemployment Duration in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 50, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
- Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-09, January.
- Anders Forslund & Oskar Nordström Stans, 2006.
"Swedish Youth Labour Market Policies Revisited,"
Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research,
DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 75(3), pages 168-185.
- Forslund, Anders & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2006. "Swedish youth labour market policies revisited," Working Paper Series 2006:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
- Thomas J. Holmes, 2005. "The Location of Sales Offices and the Attraction of Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 551-581, June.
- van Ours, Jan C. & Vodopivec, Milan, 2006.
"Shortening the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits Does Not Affect the Quality of Post-Unemployment Jobs: Evidence from a Natural Experiment,"
IZA Discussion Papers
2171, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- van Ours, Jan C & Vodopivec, Milan, 2006. "Shortening the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits Does Not Affect the Quality of Post-Unemployment Jobs: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 5741, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Johansson, Per, 2006. "Using internal replication to establish a treatment effect," Working Paper Series 2006:3, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
- Dale T. Mortensen, 1977. "Unemployment insurance and job search decisions," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 30(4), pages 505-517, July.
- Justin McCrary, 2007. "Manipulation of the Running Variable in the Regression Discontinuity Design: A Density Test," NBER Technical Working Papers 0334, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Jan C. van Ours & Milan Vodopivec, 2006. "How Shortening the Potential Duration of Unemployment Benefits Affects the Duration of Unemployment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 351-378, April.
- David S. Lee & Justin McCrary, 2005. "Crime, Punishment, and Myopia," NBER Working Papers 11491, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
This item has more than 25 citations. To prevent cluttering this page, these citations are listed on a separate page.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lau:crdeep:06.06For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Claudine Delapierre Saudan).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

