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The effect of monitoring unemployment insurance recipients on unemployment duration: Evidence from a field experiment

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  • Micklewright, John
  • Nagy, Gyula

Abstract

Programme administration is a relatively neglected issue in the analysis of disincentive effects of unemployment benefit systems. We investigate this issue with a field experiment in Hungary involving random assignment of benefit claimants to treatment and control groups. Treatment increases the monitoring of claims -- claimants make more frequent visits to the employment office and face questioning about their search behaviour. Treatment has quite a large effect on durations on benefit of women aged 30 and over, while we find no effect for younger women or men.

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  • Micklewright, John & Nagy, Gyula, 2010. "The effect of monitoring unemployment insurance recipients on unemployment duration: Evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 180-187, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:17:y:2010:i:1:p:180-187
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    1. After all, not that much moral hazard in unemployment insurance?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-01-20 21:03:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Michèle Belot & Philipp Kircher & Paul Muller, 2019. "Providing Advice to Jobseekers at Low Cost: An Experimental Study on Online Advice," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(4), pages 1411-1447.
    3. Sebastien Menard, 2019. "The impact of benefit sanctions on equilibrium wage dispersion and job vacancies," TEPP Working Paper 2019-08, TEPP.
    4. Simoes, Nadia, 2013. "Subsídio de desemprego: uma revisão da literatura teórica e empírica [Unemployment insurance: a survey]," MPRA Paper 52332, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. H. Lehmann & A. Muravyev, 2011. "Labor markets and labor market institutions in transition economies," Working Papers wp783, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    6. Octave De Brouwer & Elisabeth Leduc & Ilan Tojerow, 2019. "The Unexpected Consequences of Job Search Monitoring: Disability Instead of Employment ?," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/340666, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Holger Bonin & Ulf Rinne, 2014. "‘Beautiful Serbia’ - objective and subjective outcomes of active labour market policy in a transition economy," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 43-67, January.
    8. Marco Caliendo & Ricarda Schmidl, 2016. "Youth unemployment and active labor market policies in Europe," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    9. Verónica Escudero & Elva López Mourelo, 2018. "‪La Garantie européenne pour la jeunesse‪. Bilan systématique des mises en œuvre dans les pays membres," Travail et Emploi, La DARES, vol. 0(1), pages 89-122.
    10. Tuomala, Juha & Hämäläinen, Kari & Hämäläinen, Ulla, 2014. "The labour market impacts of a youth guarantee: lessons for Europe?," Working Papers 60, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Marios Michaelides & Peter Mueser & Jeffrey Smith, 2019. "Youth Unemployment and U.S. Job Search Assistance Policy during the Great Recession," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 13-2019, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    12. repec:ilo:ilowps:488891 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Gerard J. van den Berg & Bas van der Klaauw, 2019. "Structural Empirical Evaluation Of Job Search Monitoring," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(2), pages 879-903, May.
    14. Sebastien Menard & Solenne Tanguy, 2017. "Revisiting Hopenhayn and Nicolini 's optimal unemployment insurance with job search monitoring and sanctions," TEPP Working Paper 2017-08, TEPP.
    15. Duncan McVicar, 2020. "The impact of monitoring and sanctioning on unemployment exit and job-finding rates," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-49, June.
    16. Barbara Broadway & Tessa LoRiggio & Chris Ryan & Anna Zhu, 2022. "Literature review on the impact of welfare policy design on children and youth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 809-840, September.
    17. Pathric Hägglund, 2014. "Experimental Evidence From Active Placement Efforts Among Unemployed in Sweden," Evaluation Review, , vol. 38(3), pages 191-216, June.
    18. Lachowska, Marta & Meral, Merve & Woodbury, Stephen A., 2016. "Effects of the unemployment insurance work test on long-term employment outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 246-265.
    19. Laporšek Suzana & Vodopivec Milan & Vodopivec Matija, 2022. "Activation programs for unemployment benefit recipients in Slovenia," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 22(2), pages 75-95, June.
    20. Herault, Nicolas & Vu, Ha & Wilkins, Roger, 2020. "The Effect of Job Search Requirements on Welfare Receipt," IZA Discussion Papers 13684, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Morescalchi Andrea & Paruolo Paolo, 2020. "Too Much Stick for the Carrot? Job Search Requirements and Search Behaviour of Unemployment Benefit Claimants," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Field experiment Monitoring Job search Unemployment insurance Hungary;

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
    • P23 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Factor and Product Markets; Industry Studies; Population

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