We evaluate the effectiveness of Belgium's short-time work (STW) program during the Great Recession, a period when the country recorded the highest STW take-up rate in Europe. STW allows firms to reduce working hours in response to temporary shocks while avoiding layoffs, playing a key role in...

This paper exploits that the Covid-19 pandemic came as an unexpected shock that temporarily reduced the ratio of vacancies to seekers. We use this unique setting to understand the importance of job opportunities for the impact of unemployment on workers’ careers. Compared to individuals who...

Arbeitslosengeld-II-Beziehende sind grundsätzlich verpflichtet, Anstrengungen zu unternehmen, um ihren Leistungsbezug zu beenden oder zu verringern. Dazu zählt die Pflicht zur Arbeitssuche und Teilnahme an angebotenen Maßnahmen der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik. Eine Ausnahme von dieser...

Following massive take-up rates during the COVID-19 period, short-time work (STW) policies have attracted renewed interest. In this paper, we take stock of this policy instrument and provide a critical review of STW systems in Europe. We focus on the objectives of STW programs and their primary...

Wer einen erwerbsbedingten Abgang aus dem Bezug von Arbeitslosengeld II schafft und was andere daran hindert, eine bedarfsdeckende Erwerbstätigkeit aufzunehmen, ist eine wesentliche Frage für Praxis und Forschung. Anhand der Daten des Panels Arbeitsmarkt und soziale Sicherung (PASS) lässt...

Microsimulation models have been particularly useful when dealing with the economic welfare impact of COVID-19, particularly since such models offer a way to obtain timely and policy-relevant information in the absence of detailed household-level survey data. This study uses EUROMOD, a static...

Short-time work - a wage subsidy conditional on hour reductions - has become an important tool of labor market policy in many European countries. As the scope of these policies expanded, concerns about side effects due to adverse selection increased. We develop a model of job retention policies...

The job finding rate of Unemployment Insurance (UI) recipients declines in the initial months of unemployment and then exhibits a spike at the benefit exhaustion point. A range of theoretical explanations have been proposed, but those are hard to disentangle using data on job finding alone. To...

Nearly every state has amended workers’ compensation laws in the last two decades and the national averages of cash and medical benefits paid per covered worker have declined. As a result, writers have suggested that the states might be cutting back on workers’ compensation benefits. We show...

Optimal insurance benefit design requires understanding how coverage generosity impacts individual behavior, insured costs, and welfare. Using unique administrative data, we leverage a sharp increase in the maximum weekly wage replacement benefit in a difference-in-differences research design to...

Die Bundesregierung will das System der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsfähige radikal reformieren. Neben der Abschaffung des Vermittlungsvorrangs und der Stärkung der Qualifizierung will sie vor allem die Zuverdienstmöglichkeiten für Hilfeempfänger:innen verbessern. Fachleute zerbrechen sich...

We document the sources behind the costs of job loss over the business cycle using administrative data from Germany. Losses in annual earnings after displacement are large, persistent, and highly cyclical, nearly doubling in size during downturns. A large part of the long-term earnings losses...

In this article, we discuss reform elements of "Hartz IV". This includes, on the one hand, merging unemployment benefits with housing benefits and the additional child benefits (Kinderzuschlag) and, on the other hand, reducing disincentives which prevent the recipients from earning higher...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic and technological adjustment increased the risk of unemployment, underemployment and skills mismatch across Europe. These increased risks highlighted the importance of national unemployment benefit schemes for income security. This article examines...

Short-time work - a wage subsidy conditional on hour reductions - has become an important tool of labor market policy in many European countries. As the scope of these policies expanded, concerns about side effects due to adverse selection increased. We develop a model of job retention policies...

We document the sources behind the costs of job loss over the business cycle using administrative data from Germany. Losses in annual earnings after displacement are large, persistent, and highly cyclical, nearly doubling in size during downturns. A large part of the long-term earnings losses...

Die finanzielle Situation pflegender Angehöriger in Deutschland ist zunehmend in den Fokus des öffentlichen Interesses gerückt, dabei wird insbesondere das erhöhte Armutsrisiko informell Pflegender kritisch diskutiert. Gleichzeitig zeichnet sich ab, dass die Bedeutung informeller Pflege...

We examine racial discrimination in the New Deal by examining access to work relief. The Federal Government prohibited racial discrimination in work relief programs. However, eligibility was determined by local and state administrators. We estimate Black-white gaps in work relief access...

This paper analyzes the importance of financial disincentives for workers in Denmark. Based on a panel survey which is merged to a number of administrative registers it is possible to calculate precise measures of the economic incentives for labor force participants between employment in a full...

This paper analyses the job retention schemes implemented in response to the Covid-19 crisis, showing quantitative trends and differences in terms of expenditure on the schemes and the number of workers involved. The key focus is on a qualitative analysis of the schemes' key properties. In order...