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Counseling the unemployed: does it lower unemployment duration and recurrence?

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  • Bruno Crépon

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Muriel Dejemeppe

    (UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain)

  • Marc Gurgand

    (UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain, PJSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This article evaluates the effects of intensive counseling schemes that are provided to about 20% of the unemployed since the 2001 French unemployment policy reform (PARE). Several of the schemes are dedicated at improving the quality of assignment of workers to jobs. As a result, it is necessary to assess their impact on unemployment recurrence as well as unemployment duration. Using duration models and a very rich data set, we can identify heterogenous and time-dependent causal effects of the schemes. We find significant favorable effects on both outcomes, but the impact on unemployment recurrence is stronger than on unemployment duration. In particular, the program shifts the incidence of recurrence, one year after employment, from 33 to 26%. This illustrates that labor market policies evaluations that consider unemployment duration alone can be misleading.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Crépon & Muriel Dejemeppe & Marc Gurgand, 2005. "Counseling the unemployed: does it lower unemployment duration and recurrence?," Working Papers halshs-00590769, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00590769
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00590769
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment; active labor market policies; evaluation; duration model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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