Examining the Relationship between Unemployment Insurance Coverage and Unemployment Duration in Iran before and after the COVID-19

Abbas Khandan, Fatemeh Amiri and Majid Afsharirad
Additional contact information
Abbas Khandan: Assistant Professor, Department of Economics of Public Affairs, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran
Fatemeh Amiri: Master student, Department of Economics of Public Affairs, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran
Majid Afsharirad: Associate Professor, Department of Economics of Public Affairs, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran

Quarterly Journal of Applied Theories of Economics, 2025, vol. 12, issue 4, 177-210

Abstract: Unemployment coverage through social insurance is one of the public policy measures aimed at mitigating the social consequences of unemployment. However, providing generous benefits over a prolonged period, according to job search theory, can negatively affect the re-employment incentives of the unemployed and lead to longer unemployment durations. This study uses combined quarterly data from Iran’s Labor Force Survey conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran for the years 2018–2023 to examine the relationship between unemployment insurance coverage and unemployment duration. Using this combined dataset, the study evaluates how this relationship changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. The findings indicate that women, single individuals, urban residents, young people, highly educated individuals, those who left work due to low income, dismissal, retirement, or illness, apprentices, government employees, self-employed and freelance workers, individuals with limited work experience, and those seeking employment in the service sector, on average, experience longer unemployment durations, holding other factors constant. Furthermore, it was found that in eight provinces—Sistan and Baluchestan, Bushehr, Semnan, Yazd, Hormozgan, Alborz, East Azerbaijan, and Kerman—the average unemployment duration is longer than in Tehran. Regarding the main research question, the results confirm a positive relationship between unemployment insurance coverage and unemployment duration. Unemployment benefit recipients’ experience, on average, 1.453 months longer unemployment spells. Notably, the effect of unemployment insurance coverage on unemployment duration during the COVID-19 pandemic increased to 2.651 months, representing an intensification of approximately 1.198 months.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; unemployment duration; unemployment insurance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 J64 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ecoj.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_20814_72bb482162688130da0b83f74ab08ca8.pdf
https://ecoj.tabrizu.ac.ir/article_20814_72bb482162688130da0b83f74ab08ca8.pdf

Related works:
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:ris:qjatoe:023061

DOI: 10.22034/ecoj.2025.65985.3403

Access Statistics for this article

Quarterly Journal of Applied Theories of Economics is currently edited by Sakineh Sojoodi

More articles in Quarterly Journal of Applied Theories of Economics from Faculty of Economics, Management and Business, University of Tabriz Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sakineh Sojoodi ().