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Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance in the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas I. Mueller
  • Jesse Rothstein
  • Till M. von Wachter

Abstract

Disability insurance (DI) applications and awards are countercyclical. One potential explanation is that unemployed individuals who exhaust their Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits use DI as a form of extended benefits. We exploit the haphazard pattern of UI benefit extensions in the Great Recession to identify the effect of UI exhaustion on DI application, using both aggregate data at the state-month and state-week levels and microdata on unemployed individuals in the Current Population Survey. We find no indication that expiration of UI benefits causes DI applications. Our estimates are sufficiently precise to rule out effects of meaningful magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas I. Mueller & Jesse Rothstein & Till M. von Wachter, 2013. "Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance in the Great Recession," NBER Working Papers 19672, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19672
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jesse Rothstein & Robert G. Valletta, 2017. "Scraping by: Income and Program Participation After the Loss of Extended Unemployment Benefits," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(4), pages 880-908, September.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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