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The Role of Caseworkers in Unemployment Insurance: Evidence From Unplanned Absences

Author

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  • Amelie Schiprowski

Abstract

Caseworkers are the main human resources used to provide social services. This paper asks if, and how much, caseworkers matter for the outcomes of unemployed individuals. Using large-scale administrative data, I exploit exogenous variation in unplanned absences among Swiss UI caseworkers. I find that individuals who lose a meeting with their caseworker stay unemployed 5% longer. Results show large heterogeneity in the personal impact of caseworkers: the effect of a foregone meeting is zero for caseworkers in the lower half of the productivity distribution, while it amounts to more than twice the average effect for caseworkers in the upper half.

Suggested Citation

  • Amelie Schiprowski, 2020. "The Role of Caseworkers in Unemployment Insurance: Evidence From Unplanned Absences," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_165, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2020_165
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    Cited by:

    1. Briscese, Guglielmo & Leibbrandt, Andreas, 2022. "Designing the market for job vacancies: A trust experiment with employment centers staff," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Lennart Ziegler, 2025. "How Do Caseworkers Affect Job Search Outcomes?," CESifo Working Paper Series 12100, CESifo.
    3. Gerard J. van den Berg & Barbara Hofmann & Gesine Stephan & Arne Uhlendorff, 2025. "Mandatory Integration Agreements For Unemployed Job Seekers: A Randomized Controlled Field Experiment In Germany," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 66(1), pages 79-105, February.
    4. Marco Caliendo & Steffen Künn & Robert Mahlstedt, 2022. "The Intended and Unintended Effects of Promoting Labor Market Mobility," CEPA Discussion Papers 42, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    5. Kyyrä, Tomi & Verho, Jouko, 2025. "Do Financial Incentives for Training and Caseworker Meetings Enhance Re-employment?," Working Papers 175, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Christian Merkl & Timo Sauerbier, 2024. "Public Employment Agency Reform, Matching Efficiency, and German Unemployment," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 72(1), pages 393-440, March.
    7. Fontenay, Sébastien & Tojerow, Ilan, 2025. "Is supported employment effective for Disability Insurance recipients with mental health conditions? Evidence from a randomized experiment in Belgium," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Bhuller, Manudeep & Sigstad, Henrik, 2024. "2SLS with multiple treatments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 242(1).
    9. repec:iab:iabjlr:v:54:i:1:p:art.11 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Ziegler, Lennart, 2025. "How Do Caseworkers Affect Job Search Outcomes?," IZA Discussion Papers 18094, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Vikström, Johan & Söderström, Martin & Cederlöf, Jonas, 2021. "What makes a good caseworker?," Working Paper Series 2021:9, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    12. Hainmueller, Jens & Marbach, Moritz & Hangartner, Dominik & Harder, Niklas & Vallizadeh, Ehsan, 2025. "Refugee Labor Market Integration at Scale: Evidence from Germany’s Fast-Track Employment Program," SocArXiv px9ew_v2, Center for Open Science.
    13. Amelie Schiprowski & Julia Schmidtke & Johannes Schmieder & Simon Trenkle, 2024. "The Effects of UI Caseworkers on Job Search Effort," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 273, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    14. Carlos Carrillo-Tudela & Leo Kaas & Benjamin Lochner, 2023. "Matching through Search Channels," CESifo Working Paper Series 10761, CESifo.
    15. Cairo, Sofie & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2021. "Transparency of the Welfare System and Labor Market Outcomes of Unemployed Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 14940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Dohmen, Thomas & van Landeghem, Bert, 2019. "Numeracy and Unemployment Duration," IZA Discussion Papers 12531, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Vehkasalo, Ville, 2020. "Effects of face-to-face counselling on unemployment rate and duration: evidence from a Public Employment Service reform," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 54(1), pages 1-11.
    18. Thomas Le Barbanchon & Johannes F. Schmieder & Andrea Weber, 2024. "Job Search, Unemployment Insurance, and Active Labor Market Policies," NBER Working Papers 32720, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Altmann, Steffen & Glenny, Anita Marie & Mahlstedt, Robert & Sebald, Alexander, 2022. "The Direct and Indirect Effects of Online Job Search Advice," IZA Discussion Papers 15830, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Ville Vehkasalo, 2020. "Effects of face-to-face counselling on unemployment rate and duration: evidence from a Public Employment Service reform," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-14, December.
    21. Lundin, Martin & Häggblom, Josefin, 2022. "Deservingness and street-level decision-making. Two survey experiments on the use of discretion in the public sector," Working Paper Series 2022:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    22. Jonathan Cohen & Geoffrey C. Schnorr, 2024. "Efficiency Costs of Unemployment Insurance Denial: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Examiners," Upjohn Working Papers 24-404, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    23. Vehkasalo, Ville, 2020. "Effects of face'to'face counselling on unemployment rate and duration: evidence from a Public Employment Service reform," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 54(1), pages .11(1-14).
    24. Homrighausen, Pia & Oberfichtner, Michael, 2024. "Do Caseworker Meetings Prevent Unemployment? Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 16923, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. Böheim, René & Eppel, Rainer & Mahringer, Helmut, 2023. "The impact of lower caseloads in public employment services on the unemployed," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 57, pages 1-31.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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