This paper examines the role of EI in providing support to “displaced workers,†those who permanently lose their jobs because of changing circumstances. Adjusting to change benefits Canadians as a whole. However, some workers suffer much more from job loss than do others. Those who...

This paper studies the incidence and duration of unemployment in Canada at an aggregate and a number of disaggregated levels with data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey covering 1976 to 2006. The principal empirical findings indicate that most of the changes in steady state unemployment...

We show that among workers whose network is weaker than formal (nonnetwork) channels, those finding a job through the network should have higher wages than those finding a job through formal channels. Moreover, this wage differential is decreasing in network strength. We test these implications...

This study investigates the causal effects of education on individuals’ adaptability to employment shocks. Specifically, we assess the extent to which education influences re-employment success for unemployed workers. We also examine the impact of education on job search intensity, one...

A decision maker with time consistent preferences may exhibit diminishing impatience, when uncertain lifetime is accounted for. Uncertain lifetime captures not only the risk of mortality, but also the possibility that a promise for a delayed reward might be breached, or a postponed consumption...

In 2002 the Quebec government implemented the "Action Emploi" (AE) program aimed at making work pay for long-term social assistance recipients (SA). AE oered a generous wage subsidy that could last up to three years to recipients who found a full-time job within twelve months. The program was...

Change is an enduring feature of the economy and the labour market, even in normal times. The importance of adjusting to change, and of policies that promote adjustment, has been a recurring theme throughout David Dodge’s distinguished career. This paper deals with “displaced...

This study investigates the causal effects of education on individuals’ transitions between employment and unemployment, with particular focus on the extent to which education improves re-employment outcomes among unemployed workers. Given that positive correlations between education and...

Comment une période sans travail peut-elle affecter les chances d’emploi d’une personne? Une étude par les membres affiliés du RCCMTC Kory Kroft (Université de Toronto), Fabian Lange (Université McGill) et Matthew J. Notowidigdo (Université de Chicago) et intitulée «La dépendance...

We study how optimal unemployment insurance (UI) benefits vary over the business cycle by estimating how the moral hazard cost and the consumption smoothing benefit of UI vary with the unemployment rate. We find that the moral hazard cost is procyclical, greater when the unemployment rate is...