Based on pooled register data from Norway and Sweden, we find that differences in unemployment duration patterns reflect dissimilarities in unemployment insurance (UI) systems in a way that convincingly establishes the link between economic incentives and job search behaviour. Specifically, UI...

We study the inequality of disposable income in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the late 1980s and early 1990s when unemployment rose dramatically in all four countries. A standard measure of inequality - the Gini coefficient - was surprisingly stable in all countries during this...