The Impact of Unemployment Benefit Extensions on Employment: The 2014 Employment Miracle?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hagedorn, Marcus; Manovskii, Iourii; Mitman, Kurt
• 署名单位: University of Oslo; University of Pennsylvania; Stockholm University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7707
• DOI: 10.1257/mac.20200239
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: insurance; cyclicality; duration; search; cost

摘要

We measure the aggregate effect of unemployment benefit duration on employment and the labor force. We exploit the variation induced by Congress' failure in December 2013 to reauthorize the unprecedented benefit extensions introduced during the Great Recession. Federal benefit extensions that ranged from 0 to 47 weeks across US states were abruptly cut to zero. In sharp contrast to their typical dynamics, labor force and employment growth accelerated sharply in states with larger cuts in benefit duration. These findings are consistent with the equilibrium search framework that assigns an important role to endogenous job creation. (JEL E24, E32, J21, J64, J65)