Experiments on Unemployment Benefit Sanctions and Job Search Behaviour

This Paper presents the results of an experimental study on unemployment benefit sanctions. The experimental set-up allows us to distinguish between the effects of benefit sanctions once they are imposed (the ex post effect) and the effects that discourage the unemployed from risking benefit sanctions (the ex ante effect). We find that both effects matter. Moreover, the ex ante effect turns out to be substantial and bigger than the ex post effect. Benefits sanctions stimulate the outflow from unemployment.