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Reassessing the Effects of Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits

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  • Pedro S. Amaral
  • Jessica Ice

Abstract

To deal with the high level of unemployment during the Great Recession, lawmakers extended the availability of unemployment benefits?all the way to 99 weeks in the states where unemployment was highest. A recent study has found that the extensions served to increase unemployment significantly by putting upward pressure on wages, leading to less jobs creation by firms. We replicate the methodology of this study with an updated and longer sample and find a much smaller impact. We estimate that the impact of extending benefits on unemployment through wages and job creation can, at its highest, account for only one-fourth of the increase in the unemployment rate; an impact that is much lower than other estimates in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro S. Amaral & Jessica Ice, 2014. "Reassessing the Effects of Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Nov.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedcec:00028
    DOI: 10.26509/frbc-ec-201423
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Henry S. Farber & Robert G. Valletta, 2015. "Do Extended Unemployment Benefits Lengthen Unemployment Spells?: Evidence from Recent Cycles in the U.S. Labor Market," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(4), pages 873-909.
    2. Jesse Rothstein, 2011. "Unemployment Insurance and Job Search in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 143-213.
    3. Marcus Hagedorn & Fatih Karahan & Iourii Manovskii & Kurt Mitman, 2013. "Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment in the Great Recession: The Role of Macro Effects," NBER Working Papers 19499, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01th83kz40p is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Raj Chetty, 2008. "Erratum: Moral Hazard versus Liquidity and Optimal Unemployment Insurance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1197-1197, December.
    6. Marcus Hagedorn & Fatih Karahan & Iourii Manovskii & Kurt Mitman, 2013. "Unemployment Benefits and Unemployment in the Great Recession: The Role of Equilibrium Effects," Staff Reports 646, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dieterle, Steven & Bartalotti, Otávio C. & Brummet, Quentin O., 2016. "Revisiting the Effects of Unemployment Insurance Extensions on Unemployment: A Measurement Error-Corrected RD Approach," Staff General Research Papers Archive 3392, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Paula Alexandra Roibu Crucianu, 2019. "The Impact of Unemployment on the Economic Growth in Romania," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 174-179, December.
    3. Camille Landais & Pascal Michaillat & Emmanuel Saez, 2018. "A Macroeconomic Approach to Optimal Unemployment Insurance: Applications," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 182-216, May.
    4. Serdar Birinci & Kurt See, 2024. "The Implications of Labor Market Heterogeneity on Unemployment Insurance Design," Working Papers 2024-026, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 18 Nov 2024.
    5. Dieterle, Steven & Bartalotti, Otávio C. & Brummet, Quentin O., 2016. "Revisiting the Effects of Unemployment Insurance Extensions on Unemployment: A Measurement Error-Corrected RD Approach," ISU General Staff Papers 201604210700001002, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.

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