Do benefit cuts boost job findings? Swedish evidence from the 1990s

Kenneth Carling (), Bertil Holmlund () and Altin Vejsiu
Additional contact information
Kenneth Carling: IFAU - Office of Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Postal: Labour Market Policy Evaluation, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden, http://www.ifau.se
Altin Vejsiu: IFAU - Office of Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Postal: Labour Market Policy Evaluation, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden, http://www.ifau.se

No 1999:8, Working Paper Series from IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract: In June 1995, the Swedish parliament decided to cut the replacement rate in unemployment insurance from 80 percent to 75 percent, a change that took effect on January 1, 1996. This paper examines how this change affected job finding rates among unemployed insured individuals. To identify the effect of the policy we exploit a qasiexperimental feature of the benefit cut: only a fraction of the unemployed was affected by the reduction in replacement rates. We compare the evolution of job finding rates before and after the reform among those affected and those not affected. Our estimates suggest that the reform caused an increase in the transition rate of roughly 10 percent. There is also evidence of anticipatory behavior among the unemployed; the effects of the reform seem to operate several months before its actual implementation in January 1996.

Keywords: Unemployment duration; Unemployment benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J64 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 1999-11-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published in Economic Journal, 2001, pages 766-790.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do Benefit Cuts Boost Job Finding? Swedish Evidence from the 1990s (2001)
Working Paper: Do Benefit Cuts Boost Job Findings? Swedish Evidence From the 1990s (2000)
Working Paper: Do Benefit Cuts Boost Job Findings? Swedish Evidence from the 1990s (1999)
Working Paper: Do Benefit Cuts Boost Job Findings? Swedish Evidence from the 1990s (1999)
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