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Unemployment Benefits and Work Incentives: The U.S. Labor Market in the Great Recession

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Abstract

In the midst of massive job destruction and sharply rising long-term unemployment, a series of unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility extensions were enacted in 2008-09 that raised the regular 26-week limit to as many as 99 weeks. In response, many leading economists and business press editorials invoked the 'laws of economics' to warn that since extended benefits reduce work incentives, UI extensions would exacerbate the long-term unemployment problem. This paper reviews the evidence put forward in support of the orthodox prediction, which has relied on extrapolating from pre-Great Recession conditions, particularly through the application of "spike at benefit-exhaustion" findings from the early 1980s. Much more compelling evidence can be found by direct examination of the 2008-10 data, which shows no support for UI related work disincentive effects.

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  • David Howell, Bert M. Azizoglu, 2011. "Unemployment Benefits and Work Incentives: The U.S. Labor Market in the Great Recession," SCEPA working paper series. 2011-7, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    • Handle: RePEc:epa:cepawp:2011-7
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    1. Biegert, Thomas, 2017. "Welfare benefits and unemployment in affluent democracies: the moderating role of the institutional insider/outsider divide," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85913, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Ricardo, 2016. "Impact of financial pressure on unemployed job search, job find success and job quality," ROA Research Memorandum 008, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    3. Jia, Ye (George), 2023. "Did the unemployment benefits extension between 2009–2013 deter entrepreneurship in the US? Some evidence and a model of unemployment benefits and entrepreneurship," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Jesse Rothstein, 2011. "Unemployment Insurance and Job Search in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 143-213.
    5. Enache Cosmin, 2013. "Adverse Incentive Effects of the Unemployment Benefit Level in Romania," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 60(1), pages 54-66, July.
    6. Henry S. Farber & Robert G. Valletta, 2015. "Do Extended Unemployment Benefits Lengthen Unemployment Spells?: Evidence from Recent Cycles in the U.S. Labor Market," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(4), pages 873-909.
    7. Jessica Reale & Frederik Banning & Michael Roos, 2024. "Unemployment Benefits and Job Quality: Unveiling the Complexities of Labour Market Dynamics," Papers 2407.20306, arXiv.org.
    8. Altman, Morris, 2014. "Insights from behavioral economics on how labor markets work," Working Paper Series 18843, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    9. Hilary Hoynes & Douglas L. Miller & Jessamyn Schaller, 2012. "Who Suffers during Recessions?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(3), pages 27-48, Summer.
    10. Lane Kenworthy & Timothy Smeeding, 2013. "GINI Country Report: Growing Inequalities and their Impacts in the United States," GINI Country Reports united_states, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    11. Christine Erhel & Charlotte Levionnois, 2013. "Labour Market Policies in Times of Crisis: A Comparison of the 1992-1993 and 2008-2010 Recessions," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00880933, HAL.
    12. Jeffrey Thompson & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2011. "Inequality in the Great Recession: The Case of the United States," Working Papers wp271, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    13. Altman, Morris, 2014. "Insights from behavioral economics on how labor markets work," Working Paper Series 3466, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    14. Christine Erhel & Charlotte Levionnois, 2013. "Labour Market Policies in Times of Crisis: A Comparison of the 1992-1993 and 2008-2010 Recessions," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 13060, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    15. Espín, Antonio M. & Correa, Manuel & Ruiz-Villaverde, Alberto, 2022. "Economics students: Self-selected in preferences and indoctrinated in beliefs," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    16. Ding, Hong, 2012. "Is government’s help for unemployed people helpful for the society? An Empirical Study on Macro Data of Public Unemployment Spending in OECD Nations," MPRA Paper 43132, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Christine Erhel & Charlotte Levionnois, 2015. "Labour Market Policies in Times of Crisis: A Reaction Function Approach for the Period 1985–2010," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(2), pages 141-162, June.
    18. Katharine L. Bradbury, 2014. "Labor market transitions and the availability of unemployment insurance," Working Papers 14-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    19. Holguer Xavier Jara Tamayo & Alberto Tumino, 2021. "Atypical Work and Unemployment Protection in Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 535-555, May.
    20. Timothy Smeeding & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2013. "Inequality and poverty in the United States: the aftermath of the Great Recession," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2013-51, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    21. Biegert, Thomas, 2017. "Welfare Benefits and Unemployment in Affluent Democracies: The Moderating Role of the Institutional Insider/Outsider Divide," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 82(5), pages 1037-1064.
    22. Yu-Ling Chang, 2020. "Does State Unemployment Insurance Modernization Explain the Trajectories of Economic Security Among Working Households? Longitudinal Evidence from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 200-217, June.
    23. Molnar, Agnes & O’Campo, Patricia & Ng, Edwin & Mitchell, Christiane & Muntaner, Carles & Renahy, Emilie & St. John, Alexander & Shankardass, Ketan, 2015. "Protocol: Realist synthesis of the impact of unemployment insurance policies on poverty and health," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-9.
    24. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Mahmoud Salari, 2020. "Health benefits of social insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1813-1822, December.

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