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Understanding the welfare effects of unemployment insurance policy in general equilibrium

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  • Mukoyama, Toshihiko

Abstract

This paper analyzes the welfare effects of unemployment insurance reforms in a general equilibrium incomplete market model. In particular, it decomposes the total welfare effect for each individual into different factors. I consider a model where the consumers face an uninsurable unemployment risk, can save in an interest-bearing asset, and are subject to a borrowing constraint. The labor market is modeled using a Diamond–Mortensen–Pissarides style search and matching model. The decomposition exercises reveal how each factor contributes to the heterogeneity of welfare effects among different consumers.

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  • Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2013. "Understanding the welfare effects of unemployment insurance policy in general equilibrium," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 347-368.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:38:y:2013:i:pb:p:347-368
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.08.022
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    Cited by:

    1. Facundo Piguillem & Hernán Ruffo & Nicholas Trachter, 2023. "Unemployment Insurance when the Wealth Distribution Matters," Department of Economics Working Papers 2023_02, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    2. Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2021. "MIT shocks imply market incompleteness," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Popp, Aaron, 2017. "Unemployment insurance in a three-state model of the labor market," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 142-157.
    4. repec:bri:uobdis:14/651 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Wang, Cheng & Williamson, Stephen, 1996. "Unemployment insurance with moral hazard in a dynamic economy," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 1-41, June.
    6. Per Krusell & Toshihiko Mukoyama & Richard Rogerson & Aysegul Sahin, 2020. "Gross Worker Flows and Fluctuations in the Aggregate Labor Market," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 205-226, August.
    7. Wang, Cheng & Williamson, Stephen D., 2002. "Moral hazard, optimal unemployment insurance, and experience rating," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(7), pages 1337-1371, October.
    8. Gustavo de Souza & Andre Luduvice, 2022. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance Requirements," Working Papers 22-10R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 06 Mar 2023.
    9. Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2023. "In defense of the Kaldor-Hicks criterion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    10. Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2021. "MIT shocks imply market incompleteness," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. Chien-Chiang Lee & Tie-Ying Liu, 2017. "Insurance development, banking activities, and regional output: evidence from China," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 1059-1081, November.
    12. Mukoyama, Toshihiko, 2010. "Welfare effects of unanticipated policy changes with complete asset markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 134-138, November.
    13. Etienne Lalé, 2014. "Front-loading the Payment of Unemployment Benefits," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 15/651, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK, revised 16 Nov 2015.
    14. Kim, Jiwoon, 2018. "The Effect of Enhancing Unemployment Benefits in Korea: Wage Replacement Rate vs. Maximum Benefit Duration," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 40(3), pages 1-44.
    15. Uren, Lawrence, 2018. "The redistributive role of unemployment benefits," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 236-258.
    16. Patrick J. Conway, 2022. "Unemployment insurance programs and the choice to leave the labor force," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(4), pages 1373-1400, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Welfare effect; Unemployment insurance; Heterogeneous agents;
    All these keywords.

    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
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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