What have we learned from the Illinois Reemployment Bonus experiment?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Meyer, BD
• 署名单位: National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/209802
• 发表日期: 1996
• 页码: 26-51
• 关键词: unemployment-insurance; layoffs

摘要

This article analyzes an experimental program that offered payments to unemployment insurance (UI) recipients who found a job quickly. The experiment provided exogenous differences in individual incentives which I use to test labor supply and search theories of unemployment. I examine predictions about the timing of exits from unemployment and the effect of the fixed-amount bonus on different wage level groups. I also argue that the experimental evidence does not show the desirability of a permanent program. A permanent program would sharply increase the compensation for short UI spells, likely increasing the claims rate and possibly increasing unemployment.