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Workfare for the old and long-term unemployed

Author

Listed:
  • Bennmarker, Helge

    (IFAU)

  • Nordström Skans, Oskar

    (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies)

  • Vikman, Ulrika

    (Uppsala Center for Labor Studies)

Abstract

We estimate the effects of conditioning benefits on program participation among older long-term unemployed workers. We exploit a Swedish reform which reduced UI duration from 90 to 60 weeks for a group of older unemployed workers in a setting where workers who ex-hausted their benefits received unchanged transfers if they agreed to participate in a work practice program. Our results show that job finding increased as a result of the shorter duration of passive benefits. The time profile of the job-finding effects suggests that the effects are due to deterrence effects during the program-entry phase. We find no evidence of wage reductions, suggesting that the increased job-finding rate was driven by increased search intensity rather than lower reservation wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Bennmarker, Helge & Nordström Skans, Oskar & Vikman, Ulrika, 2012. "Workfare for the old and long-term unemployed," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2012:8, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uulswp:2012_008
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cederlöf, Jonas, 2020. "Extended unemployment benefits and the hazard to employment," Working Paper Series 2020:25, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    3. Anders Gustafsson & Andreas Stephan & Alice Hallman & Nils Karlsson, 2016. "The “sugar rush” from innovation subsidies: a robust political economy perspective," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 43(4), pages 729-756, November.
    4. Barth, Erling & Moene, Karl O. & Willumsen, Fredrik, 2015. "Reprint of "The Scandinavian model—An interpretation"," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Barth, Erling & Moene, Karl O. & Willumsen, Fredrik, 2014. "The Scandinavian model—An interpretation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 60-72.
    6. Anne Sonnet & Hilde Olsen & Thomas Manfredi, 2014. "Towards More Inclusive Ageing and Employment Policies: The Lessons from France, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland," De Economist, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 315-339, December.
    7. Boockmann Bernhard & Brändle Tobias, 2019. "Coaching, Counseling, Case-Working: Do They Help the Older Unemployed Out of Benefit Receipt and Back Into the Labor Market?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 436-468, December.
    8. Pierre Koning & Max Raterink, 2013. "Re-employment Rates of Older Unemployed Workers: Decomposing the Effect of Birth Cohorts and Policy Changes," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 331-348, September.
    9. Lukas Fervers, 2016. "Fast track to the labour market or highway to hell? The effect of activation policies on quantity and quality of labour market integration," IAW Discussion Papers 125, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Activation; program evaluation; UI; duration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • 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
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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