The General Equilibrium Impacts of Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Large Online Job Board

Ioana Marinescu

No 22447, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: During the Great Recession, U.S. unemployment benefits were extended by up to 73 weeks. Theory predicts that extensions increase unemployment by discouraging job search, a partial equilibrium effect. Using data from the large job board CareerBuilder.com, I find that a 10% increase in benefit duration decreased state-level job applications by 1%, but had no robust effect on job vacancies. Job seekers thus faced reduced competition for jobs, a general equilibrium effect. Calibration implies that the general equilibrium effect reduces the impact of unemployment insurance on unemployment by 40%: increasing benefit duration by 10% increases unemployment by only 0.6% in equilibrium.

JEL-codes: J63 J64 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ias and nep-lab
Note: LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published as Marinescu, Ioana, 2017. "The general equilibrium impacts of unemployment insurance: Evidence from a large online job board," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 14-29.
Published as The General Equilibrium Impacts of Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Large Online Job Board , Ioana Marinescu. in Social Insurance Programs (Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar, TAPES) , Gordon, Peichl, and Poterba. 2019

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Journal Article: The general equilibrium impacts of unemployment insurance: Evidence from a large online job board (2017)
Chapter: The General Equilibrium Impacts of Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Large Online Job Board (2016)
Working Paper: The General Equilibrium Impacts of Unemployment Insurance: Evidence from a Large Online Job Board (2016)
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