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Unemployment Benefit Extensions Caused Jobless Recoveries!?

Author

Listed:
  • Kurt Mitman

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Stanislav Rabinovich

    (Department of Economics, Amherst College)

Abstract

The last three recessions in the United States were followed by jobless recoveries: while labor productivity recovered, unemployment remained high. In this paper, we show that countercyclical unemployment benefit extensions lead to jobless recoveries. We augment the standard Mortensen-Pissarides model to incorporate unemployment benefits expiration and state-dependent extensions of unemployment benefits. In the model, an extension of unemployment benefits slows down the recovery of vacancy creation in the aftermath of a recession. We calibrate the model to US data and show that it is quantitatively consistent with observed labor market dynamics, in particular the emergence of jobless recoveries after 1990. Furthermore, counterfactual experiments indicate that unemployment benefits are quantitatively important in explaining jobless recoveries.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt Mitman & Stanislav Rabinovich, 2014. "Unemployment Benefit Extensions Caused Jobless Recoveries!?," PIER Working Paper Archive 14-013, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:14-013
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Cutting Unemployment Insurance Probably Does Create Jobs, But We Don't Know How Many Yet
      by Patrick Brennan in The Corner on 2015-01-30 03:57:07

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Georg Graetz & Guy Michaels, 2017. "Is Modern Technology Responsible for Jobless Recoveries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 168-173, May.
    2. W. Similan Rujiwattanapong, 2022. "Unemployment Insurance and Labour Productivity over the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 46, pages 196-223, October.
    3. Meredith M. Paker, 2020. "The Jobless Recovery After the 1980-1981 UK Recession," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _182, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Finkelstein Shapiro, Alan & Olivero, Maria Pia, 2020. "Lending relationships and labor market dynamics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Levander, Mats, 2019. "Financial Buffers, Unemployment Duration and Replacement Labor Income," Working Paper Series 379, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    6. Similan Rujiwattanapong, 2019. "Unemployment Dynamics and Unemployment Insurance Extensions under Rational Expectations," 2019 Meeting Papers 232, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment Insurance; Business Cycles; Jobless Recoveries;
    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
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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