Unemployment insurance with response heterogeneity

Arbeitspapier

The generosity of social insurance coverage often increases with the beneficiary's age and their contribution time to social security, but existing policies vary considerably. We study the differentiation of unemployment insurance (UI) generosity by evaluating how the insurance-incentive trade-off varies with age and contribution time. We exploit numerous discontinuities in potential benefit duration in Germany. Contribution time in the last three years carries information on job search efforts, as it is associated with lower moral hazard responses and fiscal externality. We find no significant response heterogeneity in age or longer contribution time horizons. Contrasting these gradients with an approximated insurance value for four UI regimes, we document that steepening the potential benefit duration schedule in contribution time and flattening it in age would have increased welfare.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WWZ Working Paper ; No. 08/2023

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor Economics Policies ; Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search ; Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings
• Subject: Unemployment insurance ; response heterogeneity ; policy differentiation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Wunsch, Conny ; Zabrodina, Véra
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Basel, Center of Business and Economics (WWZ)
• (where): Basel
• (when): 2023

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5451/unibas-ep96019
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/283424
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET