I present a model of optimal contracts between firms and workers, under limited commitment and with worker savings. A central feature of the model is that firms can provide insurance against unemployment, by targeting a path of wages that encourages wealth accumulation. I provide an analytical...

This paper quantitatively investigates the scope for improving welfare by making aspects of the unemployment insurance (UI) system depend on the state of the business cycle. A particular focus is the Canadian system of "Employment Insurance" (EI), which is designed in such a way that the...

Unemployment Accounts (UA) are mandatory individual saving accounts that can be used by governments as an alternative to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system. I study a two tier UA-UI system where the unemployed withdraw from their unemployment account until it is exhausted and then receive...

A vast theoretical and empirical literature has focused on the effects of unemployment insurance benefits on the decisions of the recipients and how these decisions influence their labor market outcomes. Three strands of literature are discussed in this paper: (i) the impact of unemployment...

In this paper, we study the interaction between self insurance and public insurance. In particular, we provide evidence on the relationship between unemployment insurance benefits and home production using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the state-level unemployment insurance data of...

This paper considers the design of optimal unemployment insurance with multiple types of job. The environment is an extension of Hopenhayn and Nicolini(1997). We study the model by using the fi�rst-order approach. The optimal contract still displays benefit� decreasing over the length of the...

Using panel data of public unemployment expenditure as a percentage of GDP of 34 OECD nations across year 1980-2010, I explore the effect of this ratio on three unemployment outcomes: total unemployment rate, long-term unemployment rate and youth unemployment, as well as labor participation rate...

In this paper, we incorporate home production into a quantitative model of unemployment and show that realistic levels of home production have a significant impact on the optimal unemployment insurance rate. Motivated by recently documented empirical facts, we augment an incomplete markets model...

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of transitional work on the duration of an individual's search spell. A transitional job is one that begins and ends during a reported search spell. While transitional employment may lengthen a person's search through a reduction in time and...

I develop an equilibrium matching model in which workers have preferences over consumption and hours of work and are able to self-insure against unemployment risks by accumulating precautionary wealth. Wages and working hours are the outcomes of Nash bargaining between workers and firms. I focus...