Labor market policies during an epidemic

Serdar Birinci, Fatih Karahan, Yusuf Mercan and Kurt See

Journal of Public Economics, 2021, vol. 194, issue C

Abstract: We study the positive and normative implications of labor market policies that counteract the economic fallout from containment measures during an epidemic. We incorporate a standard epidemiological model into an equilibrium search model of the labor market to compare unemployment insurance (UI) expansions and payroll subsidies. In isolation, payroll subsidies that preserve match capital and enable a swift economic recovery are preferred over a cost-equivalent UI expansion. When considered jointly, however, a cost-equivalent optimal mix allocates 20 percent of the budget to payroll subsidies and 80 percent to UI. The two policies are complementary, catering to different rungs of the productivity ladder. The small share of payroll subsidies is sufficient to preserve high-productivity jobs, but it leaves room for social assistance to workers who face inevitable job loss.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fiscal policy; Labor productivity; Unemployment; Job search (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 E62 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272720302127
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: Labor Market Policies During an Epidemic (2020)
Working Paper: Labor Market Policies During an Epidemic (2020)
Working Paper: Labor Market Policies during an Epidemic (2020)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:194:y:2021:i:c:s0047272720302127

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104348

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Public Economics is currently edited by R. Boadway and J. Poterba

More articles in Journal of Public Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().