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Dynamic Trade-offs and Labor Supply under the CARES Act

Author

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  • Corina Boar

    (New York University - Department of Economics)

  • Simon Mongey

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics)

Abstract

The CARES Act resulted in many unemployed workers receiving benefits that exceeded wages at their previous job. Given this, would an unemployed worker reject an offer to return to their former job at the same wage? Qualitatively, we provide a very simple dynamic model that incorporates four reasons the answer could be ‘no’: (i) the temporary nature of the CARES Act, (ii) uncertainty that their return-to-work offer might expire, (iii) search frictions, and (iv) wage losses out of unemployment in a recession. Quantitatively, when evaluated under empirically relevant parameters, we find it unlikely a worker would reject an offer to return to work at the same wage. We show special cases where this is not true and relate these to anecdotal evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Corina Boar & Simon Mongey, 2020. "Dynamic Trade-offs and Labor Supply under the CARES Act," Working Papers 2020-112, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-112
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jhon James Mora, 2021. "Analysis of Unemployment and Employment After a Strict COVID-19 Confinement Policy in Cali," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 94, pages 165-193, Enero-Jun.
    2. Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau & Robert G. Valletta, 2021. "UI Generosity and Job Acceptance: Effects of the 2020 CARES Act," Working Paper Series 2021-13, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    3. Abbott, Brant & Phan, Nam Van, 2023. "Should wages be subsidized in a pandemic?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(6), pages 1549-1580, September.
    4. Birinci, Serdar & Karahan, Fatih & Mercan, Yusuf & See, Kurt, 2021. "Labor market policies during an epidemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    5. Ganong, Peter & Noel, Pascal & Vavra, Joseph, 2020. "US unemployment insurance replacement rates during the pandemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    6. Marinescu, Ioana & Skandalis, Daphné & Zhao, Daniel, 2021. "The impact of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation on job search and vacancy creation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Finamor, Lucas & Scott, Dana, 2021. "Labor market trends and unemployment insurance generosity during the pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Dergiades, Theologos & Milas, Costas & Panagiotidis, Theodore, 2022. "Unemployment claims during COVID-19 and economic support measures in the U.S," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Andreas Hornstein & Marios Karabarbounis & Andre Kurmann & Etienne Lale & Lien Ta, 2023. "Disincentive Effects of Unemployment Insurance Benefits," Working Paper 23-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    10. Yahong Zhang, 2022. "Unemployment Benefits and Wage Subsidies -- Effects of Labour Market Policies during a Pandemic," Working Papers 2203, University of Windsor, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2022.
    11. Eliza Forsythe & Lisa B. Kahn & Fabian Lange & David G. Wiczer, 2020. "Searching, Recalls, and Tightness: An Interim Report on the COVID Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 28083, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Faria-e-Castro, Miguel, 2021. "Fiscal policy during a pandemic," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    13. R. Maria del Rio-Chanona & Alejandro Hermida-Carrillo & Melody Sepahpour-Fard & Luning Sun & Renata Topinkova & Ljubica Nedelkoska, 2022. "Mental health concerns prelude the Great Resignation: Evidence from Social Media," Papers 2208.07926, arXiv.org.
    14. Xiaoxiao Wu & Hongfu Chen & Ying Qian & Quanyong Lei, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Fostering social innovation in the energy transition: entrepreneurial solutions for a sustainable economy," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-19, April.
    15. Amanda M. Michaud, 2023. "Expanding Unemployment Insurance Coverage," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 067, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

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    More about this item

    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
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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