We revisit the cyclical nature of birth rates and infant health and investigate to what extent the relationship between aggregate labor market conditions and birth outcomes is mitigated by the consumption smoothing income assistance delivered through unemployment insurance (UI). We introduce a...

With the emergence of the Great Recession unemployment insurance (UI) is once again at the heart of the policy debate. In this paper, we review the recent theoretical and empirical evidence on the labor market effects of UI design. We also discuss policy issues related to UI design, including...

This paper analyzes the employment and unemployment experiences of adult foreign-born men, both among themselves and in comparison with the native born. It is based on an econometric analysis of the microdata from the 1990 Census of Population. The theoretical model focuses on the job search...

We quantify micro and macro effects of changes in the potential benefit duration (PBD) in unemployment insurance. In Poland, the PBD is 12 months for newly unemployed if the previous year's county unemployment rate is more than 150% of the national average, and 6 months otherwise. We exploit...

In the U.S., workers must satisfy two requirements to receive unemployment insurance (UI): a tenure requirement of a minimum work spell and a monetary requirement of a past minimum earnings. Using discontinuity of UI rules at state borders, we find that the monetary requirement decreases the...

Unemployment insurance policies are multidimensional objects. They are typically defined by waiting periods, eligibility duration, benefit levels and asset tests when eligible, which make intertemporal or international comparisons difficult. To make things worse, labor market conditions, such as...

This paper uses U.S. micro level data on employment durations to quantify the effect of potential Unemployment Insurance (UI) entitlement on job separations. Economic theory motivates estimation of a competing risk hazard model for quits and layoffs. The estimation procedure simultaneously...

Extended unemployment benefits programs are triggered by the state insured unemployment rate while intrastate demand conditions often vary dramatically. Some tight local labor markets may therefore exhibit a large effect of extended unemployment benefits. Using a competing risk duration model,...

This paper highlights recent trends in employment insurance (formerly unemployment insurance). It also provides a review of the historic evolution of the employment insurance program. The following summarizes the main results. The EI system has turned from large deficits prior to 1993, to nearly...

The basic trade union model is extended to allow for a more sophisticated unemployment benefit system consisting of two benefit levels, one for short-term and one for long-term unemployed, and a rule determining whether an unemployed is short- or long-term. The purpose of this extension is...