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Indexation Of Unemployment Benefits To Previous Earnings, Employment And Wages

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  • Heer, Burkhard
  • Morgenstern, Albrecht

Abstract

In most OECD countries, unemployment benefits are tied to individual previous labor earnings. We study the progressivity of this indexation with regard to its effects on employment, output and wages in four equilibrinin models of the labor market keeping the level of unemployment benefits fixed. In the two cases of competitive labor markets and decentralized wage bargaining, employment and output increase, while wages decrease with the degree of indexation. In the model with search unemployment and Nash wage bargaining, all wages, employment and output increase, while die indexation of employirient benefits to previous carnings has no effect in the case of efficiency wages. In addition, our results suggest that a more progressive mdexation of unemployment benefits to labor earnings is wellare enhancing.

Suggested Citation

  • Heer, Burkhard & Morgenstern, Albrecht, 2000. "Indexation Of Unemployment Benefits To Previous Earnings, Employment And Wages," Discussion Papers in Economics 30, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenec:30
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Thomas Beissinger & Oliver Büsse, 2001. "Bismarck versus Beveridge: Which Unemployment Compensation System is more Prone to Labor Market Shocks?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 58(1), pages 78-102, December.
    3. Raurich, Xavier & Sorolla, Valeri, 2014. "Growth, unemployment and wage inertia," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 42-59.
    4. Stéphanie Jamet & Thomas Chalaux & Vincent Koen, 2013. "Labour Market and Social Policies to Foster More Inclusive Growth in Sweden," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1023, OECD Publishing.
    5. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Lim, King Yoong, 2018. "Unemployment, growth and welfare effects of labor market reforms," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 19-38.
    6. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg & Heinrich Ursprung, 2010. "A positive theory of the earnings relationship of unemployment benefits," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 137-163, October.
    7. Niklas Potrafke, 2010. "Labor market deregulation and globalization: empirical evidence from OECD countries," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(3), pages 545-571, September.
    8. Lim, King Yoong, 2019. "Modelling the dynamics of corruption and unemployment with heterogeneous labour," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 98-117.
    9. Goerke, Laszlo & Madsen, Jakob B., 2003. "Earnings-Related Unemployment Benefits in a Unionised Economy," IZA Discussion Papers 701, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Goerke, Laszlo & Madsen, Jakob B., 2003. "Earnings-related unemployment benefits and unemployment," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 41-62, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment Benefits ; Progressive Indexation ; Union Wage-Setting ; Search Unemployment ; Efficiency Wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • M55 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Contracting Devices

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