Strictness in the evaluation of job search effort and employment outcomes

Lovisa Rambjer (), Arne Uhlendorff and Johan Vikström ()
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Lovisa Rambjer: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Arne Uhlendorff: CREST, CNRS, IP Paris, and IAB Nuremberg
Johan Vikström: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

No 2026:22, Working Paper Series from IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract: Unemployed job seekers must comply with job-search requirements to be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. We exploit variation in strictness across caseworkers who conduct monthly reviews of these requirements to examine the effects of stricter enforcement on job finding, search intensity, and job quality. This variation arises from central-office caseworkers who are quasi-randomly assigned to review job seekers’ activity reports and whose only interaction with job seekers occurs through this process. We find that stricter enforcement increases the likelihood of reported violations and benefit sanctions, leading to persistently higher job-search intensity, shorter unemployment durations, and higher employment rates. We find no evidence of negative effects on job quality. The positive employment effects are more persistent among job seekers from low-growth industries and those with weak labor market attachment.

Keywords: Unemployment Insurance; Job Search; Monitoring; Sanctions; Caseworkers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J64 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2026-10-08
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2026_022

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