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Optimal Unemployment Insurance

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Author Info
Carl Davidson (Michigan State University)
Stephen A. Woodbury () (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research)

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Abstract

We investigate the design of an optimal Unemployment Insurance program using an equilibrium search and matching model calibrated using data from the reemployment bonus experiments and secondary sources. We examine (a) the optimal potential duration of UI benefits, (b) the optimal UI replacement rate when the potential duration of benefits is optimal, and (c) the optimal UI replacement rate when the potential duration of benefits is sub-optimal. There are three main conclusions. First, insurance considerations suggest that the potential duration of UI benefits would be unlimited under an optimal program. Hence, existing UI programs in the U.S. provide benefits for too short a period of time. Second, if the potential duration to benefits were unlimited, current replacement rates in the U.S., which are in the neighborhood of .5, would probably be about right. Third, with the potential duration of benefits limited to 26 weeks, as in most states during normal times, replacement rates of .5 are too low the optimal replacement rate is 1 if the potential duration of benefits is limited to 32 weeks or less.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in its series Staff Working Papers with number 95-35.

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Date of creation: Apr 1995
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Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:95-35

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Related research
Keywords: unemployment; insurance; Davidson; Woodbury;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies

References listed on IDEAS
Please 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.:

  1. Blank, Rebecca M & Card, David E, 1991. "Recent Trends in Insured and Uninsured Unemployment: Is There an Explanation?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(4), pages 1157-89, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Abraham, Katharine G, 1983. "Structural-Frictional vs. Deficient Demand Unemployment: Some New Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 708-24, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Carl Davidson & Stephen A. Woodbury, 1996. "Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment: Implications of the Reemployment Bonus Experiments," Staff Working Papers 96-44, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Baily, Martin Neil, 1978. "Some aspects of optimal unemployment insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 379-402, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Shavell, Steven, 1979. "On Moral Hazard and Insurance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 93(4), pages 541-62, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jonathan Gruber, 1994. "The Consumption Smoothing Benefits of Unemployment Insurance," NBER Working Papers 4750, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Davidson, Carl & Woodbury, Stephen A, 1993. "The Displacement Effect of Reemployment Bonus Programs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(4), pages 575-605, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Shavell, Steven & Weiss, Laurence, 1979. "The Optimal Payment of Unemployment Insurance Benefits over Time," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1347-62, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Chirinko, Robert S, 1982. "An Empirical Investigation of the Returns to Job Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 498-501, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Peter A. Diamond, 1991. "The Aggregate Matching Function," NBER Working Papers 3175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Oliver Jean Blanchard & Peter Diamond, 1989. "The Beveridge Curve," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 20(1989-1), pages 1-76. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please 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.)

  1. Raj Chetty, 2004. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance When Income Effects are Large," NBER Working Papers 10500, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Raj Chetty, 2005. "A General Formula for the Optimal Level of Social Insurance," NBER Working Papers 11386, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Fredriksson, Peter & Holmlund, Bertil, 2005. "Optimal unemployment insurance design: time limits, monitoring, or workfare?," Working Paper Series 2005:13, IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Carl Davidson & Stephen A. Woodbury, 1997. "The Optimal Dole with Risk Aversion, Job Destruction, and Worker Heterogeneity," Staff Working Papers 97-47, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Adrian Masters & Melvyn Coles, 2004. "Duration Dependent Unemployment Insurance and Stabilisation Policy," Discussion Papers 04-10, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Fredriksson, Peter & Holmlund, Bertil, 1998. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance in Search Equilibrium," Working Paper Series 1998:2, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Stephen Williamson & Cheng Wang, 1995. "Unemployment Insurance with Moral Hazard in a Dynamic Economy," Macroeconomics 9506002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Barbara Sianesi, 2002. "Swedish active labour market programmes in the 1990s: overall effectiveness and differential performance," IFS Working Papers W02/03, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
  9. Holmlund, Bertil, 1997. "Unemployment Insurance in Theory and Practice," Working Paper Series 1997:25, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Robert A.J. Dur, 1999. "The Credibility Problem in Unemployment Insurance Policy," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 99-051/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Adrian Masters & Melvyn Coles, 2004. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance in a Matching Equilibrium," Discussion Papers 04-12, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Yosuke Oda, 2008. "Alteration in Skills and Career-Enhancing in a Frictional Labor Market," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 08-09, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). [Downloadable!]
  13. Rasmus Lentz, 2003. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance in an Estimated Job Search Model with Savings," CAM Working Papers 2004-10, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Castro-Fernandez, Rodriguo & Wodon, Quentin, 2002. "Protecting the Unemployed in Chile: From State Assistance to Individual Insurance?," MPRA Paper 15416, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  15. Reichling, Felix, 2006. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance in Labor Market Equilibrium when Workers can Self-Insure," MPRA Paper 5362, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 16 Oct 2007. [Downloadable!]
  16. Stephen A. Woodbury, 2002. "Income Replacement and Reemployment Programs in Michigan and Neighboring States," Staff Working Papers 02-86, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Pekka Sinko, 2001. "Unemployment Insurance with Limited Duration and Variable Replacement Ratio - Effects on Optimal Search," Discussion Papers 253, Government Institute for Economic Research Finland (VATT). [Downloadable!]
  18. Stéphane Pallage & Christian Zimmermann, 1999. "Assurance chômage et sociétés," Cahiers de recherche du Département des sciences économiques, UQAM 9904, Université du Québec à Montréal, Département des sciences économiques. [Downloadable!]
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