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Unemployment Benefits Caused Jobless Recoveries!?

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  • Stanislav Rabinovich

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Kurt Mitman

    (University of Pennsylvania)

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 propose and quantitatively evaluate a new explanation for this fact, namely that extensions of unemployment benefits in recessions slow down the recovery of employment. We are motivated by the fact that the duration of unemployment benefits is extended when the unemployment rate is high, and these extensions have become progressively more generous over time. We construct and calibrate an equilibrium search model of the labor market that incorporates these key features of the US unemployment insurance system. We find that the calibrated model is consistent with the facts that recoveries were not jobless prior to 1990 and became jobless thereafter.

Suggested Citation

  • Stanislav Rabinovich & Kurt Mitman, 2012. "Unemployment Benefits Caused Jobless Recoveries!?," 2012 Meeting Papers 1112, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed012:1112
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus Hagedorn & Iourii Manovskii, 2008. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1692-1706, September.
    2. Nakajima, Makoto, 2012. "A quantitative analysis of unemployment benefit extensions," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 686-702.
    3. Fredriksson, Peter & Holmlund, Bertil, 2001. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance in Search Equilibrium," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 370-399, April.
    4. repec:wop:calsdi:97-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Erica L. Groshen & Simon M. Potter, 2003. "Has structural change contributed to a jobless recovery?," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Aug).
    6. 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.
    7. Kurt Mitman & Stanislav Rabinovich, 2011. "Pro-Cyclical Unemployment Benefits? Optimal Policy in an Equilibrium Business Cycle Model," PIER Working Paper Archive 11-010, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    8. Garey Ramey & Wouter J. den Haan & Joel Watson, 2000. "Job Destruction and Propagation of Shocks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(3), pages 482-498, June.
    9. Robert Shimer, 2005. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 25-49, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Enoch Hill & Kai Ding, 2016. "Cautious Hiring," 2016 Meeting Papers 291, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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