Wage subsidies for the long term unemployed: a search theoretic analysis

J. Richardson

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The persistence of mass unemployment in many OECD countries in the 1980s and 1990s has led to renewed interest in active labour market policies. We examine one such policy, a wage subsidy for employers hiring the long-term unemployed, using a search-theoretic framework. We assume that long-term unemployment leads to a loss of human capital, and that a subsidy can offset the consequent training costs faced by employers hiring the long-term unemployed. We argue that unemployment would be unambiguously reduced by such a policy. Furthermore, the often-made criticism of wage subsidies that they mainly lead to substitution, merely churning the unemployed, is misplaced. There are positive externalities to substitution that lead firms to open more vacancies, many of which in turn will be filled by the short-term unemployed.

JEL-codes: J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 1997-05
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:20337

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