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Should unemployment insurance be asset-tested?

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian Koehne

    (Stockholm University)

  • Moritz Kuhn

    (University of Bonn)

Abstract

We study asset-tested unemployment insurance in an incomplete markets model with moral hazard during job search. Optimal asset testing is weak and yields negligible welfare gains. The optimal replacement rate of an unemployed worker with zero liquidity is 9 percentage points higher than that of the median worker. Welfare rises by 0.03 percent in consumption equivalent terms. We develop a general welfare decomposition for heterogeneous agent models with transitional dynamics. Asset testing creates welfare gains due to redistribution and additional consumption during the transition phase, and welfare losses due to reduced consumption smoothing, lower consumption, and higher effort levels. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Koehne & Moritz Kuhn, 2015. "Should unemployment insurance be asset-tested?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 18(3), pages 575-592, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:13-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2014.09.005
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Unemployment insurance only for the rich
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-03-15 20:20:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Claudio Michelacci & Hernán Ruffo, 2015. "Optimal Life Cycle Unemployment Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(2), pages 816-859, February.
    2. Felix Wellschmied, 2021. "The welfare effects of asset mean‐testing income support," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(1), pages 217-249, January.
    3. Serdar Birinci & Kurt Gerrard See, 2018. "How Should Unemployment Insurance vary over the Business Cycle?," 2018 Meeting Papers 69, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Wang, Cheng & Williamson, Stephen D., 2002. "Moral hazard, optimal unemployment insurance, and experience rating," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(7), pages 1337-1371, October.
    5. Facundo Piguillem & Hernan Ruffo & Nicholas Trachter, 2023. "Unemployment Insurance when the Wealth Distribution Matters," Working Paper 23-08, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    6. Nicholas Lawson, 2023. "Optimal unemployment policy," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 675-692, July.
    7. 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.
    8. Swapnil Singh, 2018. "Public insurance of married versus single households in the US: trends and welfare consequences," Bank of Lithuania Working Paper Series 54, Bank of Lithuania.
    9. J. Carter Braxton & Gordon Phillips & Kyle Herkenhoff, 2018. "Can the Unemployed Borrow? Implications for Public Insurance," 2018 Meeting Papers 564, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    10. Serdar Birinci & Kurt See, 2019. "Labor Market Responses to Unemployment Insurance: The Role of Heterogeneity," Working Papers 2019-022, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Nov 2021.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment insurance; Asset testing; Incomplete markets; Welfare decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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