This paper tests the effects of the level and length of unemployment insurance benefits on unemployment durations. The paper particularly studies individual behavior during the weeks just prior to when benefits lapse. Higher unemployment insurance benefits are found to have a strong negative...

This article analyzes an experimental program that offered payments to unemployment insurance recipients who found a job quickly. The experiment provided exogenous differences in individual incentives, which the author uses to test labor supply and search theories of unemployment. He examines...

The authors survey unemployment insurance in the United States and provide new evidence on the unemployment insurance payroll tax. Most unemployment insurance receipt is due to firms that pay part of the unemployment insurance costs of their layoffs, but weak experience rating leads most firms...

This paper empirically examines the importance of explicitly accounting for the layoff-rehire process in the analysis of unemployment outcomes in the United States. The authors find that the spells of individuals who initially expect to be recalled account for much more of the unemployment of...

Using research designs patterned after randomized experiments, many recent economic studies examine outcome measures for treatment groups and comparison groups that are not randomly assigned. By using variation in explanatory variables generated by changes in state laws, government draft...

The recent decline in the unemployment insurance (UI) takeup rate has puzzled researchers. Using administrative data with accurate information on the potential level and duration of benefits, the authors examine whether a separating employee receives UI. They find a strong positive effect of the...