IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pri/indrel/653.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Poor Performance as a Predictable Outcome: Financing the Administration of Unemployment Insurance

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Lachowska

    (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research)

  • Alexandre Mas

    (Princeton University)

  • Stephen A. Woodbury

    (Michigan State University)

Abstract

Effective administration of unemployment insurance (UI) is central to its ability to smooth consumption and act as an automatic stabilizer. The federal government’s method of allocating funds to administer UI gives the states no incentive to provide quality service at reasonable cost. We first document the deteriorating performance of the UI system in recent recessions and present estimates of a descriptive model relating state workloads to performance. We then characterize UI administration as a standard principal-agent problem, which leads to a method of allocating funds that would motivate states to adopt new technologies and improve performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Lachowska & Alexandre Mas & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2022. "Poor Performance as a Predictable Outcome: Financing the Administration of Unemployment Insurance," Working Papers 653, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:indrel:653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp01v405sd53v/3/653.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saul J. Blaustein, 1993. "Unemployment Insurance in the United States: The First Half Century," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number uius, August.
    2. Marta Lachowska & Wayne Vroman & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2020. "Experience Rating and the Dynamics of Financing Unemployment Insurance," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(3), pages 673-698, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marta Lachowska & Isaac Sorkin & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2022. "Firms and Unemployment Insurance Take-up," NBER Working Papers 30266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bruno Coquet, 2017. "La tarification des contrats courts : objectifs et instruments," Working Papers hal-03455326, HAL.
    3. Léo Aparisi de Lannoy & Xavier Ragot, 2017. "Une (ré) assurance chômage européenne," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03455381, HAL.
    4. Pezone, Vincenzo, 2017. "Unemployment Risk and Payout Policies," MPRA Paper 83918, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. David E. Balducchi & Christopher J. O'Leary, 2018. "The Employment Service-Unemployment Insurance Partnership: Origin, Evolutioin, and Revitalization," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Stephen A. Wandner (ed.),Unemployment Insurance Reform: Fixing a Broken System, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4an256spl398tp1fg14l76bsi5 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Díaz, Antonia & Echevarria, Cristina, 2009. "Why a fixed workweek?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 790-798, October.
    8. Michael Huberman & Chris Minns, 2005. "Hours of Work in Old and New Worlds: The Long View, 1870-2000," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp95, IIIS.
    9. Christopher J. O'Leary & Stephen A. Wandner, 2001. "Unemployment Compensation and Older Workers," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Peter P. Budetti & Richard V. Burkhauser & Janice M. Gregory & H. Allan Hunt (ed.), Ensuring Health and Income Security for an Aging Workforce, pages 85-133, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. Christopher J. O’Leary & Burt S. Barnow & Karolien Lenaerts, 2020. "Lessons from the American federal‐state unemployment insurance system for a European unemployment benefits system," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(1), pages 3-34, January.
    11. Christopher J. O'Leary & Stephen A. Wandner, 1997. "Summing Up: Achievements, Problems, and Prospects," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Christopher J. O'Leary & Stephen A. Wandner (ed.), Unemployment Insurance in the United States: Analysis of Policy Issues, chapter 15, pages 669-722, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    12. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5i0jcpu6sk96cpn76n8q0ie20c is not listed on IDEAS
    13. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/69i5rbio799im94rhg5il9bvik is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Stephen Woodbury, 2013. "Unemployment Insurance," Upjohn Working Papers 14-208, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    15. Agrawal, Ashwini K. & Matsa, David A., 2013. "Labor unemployment risk and corporate financing decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 449-470.
    16. 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.
    17. Jacqueline Mazza, 2000. "Unemployment Insurance: Case Studies and Lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean," Research Department Publications 4192, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    18. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, 1995. "Reforming Unemployment Insurance: Towards Greater Employment," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_152, Levy Economics Institute.
    19. Garcia-Murillo, Martha & MacInnes, Ian, 2019. "The impact of AI on employment: a historical account of its evolution," 30th European Regional ITS Conference, Helsinki 2019 205178, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    20. Huberman, Michael & Lewchuk, Wayne, 2003. "European economic integration and the labour compact, 1850–1913," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 3-41, April.
    21. Lachowska, Marta & Meral, Merve & Woodbury, Stephen A., 2016. "Effects of the unemployment insurance work test on long-term employment outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 246-265.
    22. Milan Vodopivec, 2004. "Income Support for the Unemployed : Issues and Options," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14922, December.
    23. Tracy Gordon & Lucy Dadayan & Kim Rueben, 2020. "State and Local Government Finances in the COVID-19 Era," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(3), pages 733-758, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment insurance; government;

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pri:indrel:653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bobray Bordelon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/irprius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.