We study how changes in the maximum benefit duration affect the inflow into unemployment in the Netherlands. Until August 2003, workers who became unemployed after age 57.5 were entitled to unemployment benefits until the age of 65, after which they would receive old age pensions. This...

We study the effect of an unexpected reduction in maximum unemployment benefit duration on the inflow into unemployment of elderly workers in the Netherlands. We analyze the reduction as if it was a natural experiment finding substantial effects.

The system of unemployment benefits and subsistence benefits in Slovakia has potentially large disincentive effects with respect to the outflow from unemployment to a job. Especially low educated unemployed and unemployed with young children are often faced with replacement ratios which are...

Youth unemployment is an issue of primary concern in Western European countries. In this paper we analyze dynamics in unemployment for youths, adults (prime-aged individuals), and elderly. We use quarterly French unemployment data, stratified by gender, age group, and duration, over the period...

In the Netherlands, students who want to become a medical specialist have to enrol in a training program which is in limited supply. During the search for a position as trainee (or "junior medical specialist"), they may accept a temporary job as a medical assistant. We use a micro data set to...

Recent evaluations of active lab or market policies are not very optimistic about their effectiveness to bring unemployed back to work. An important reason is that unemployed get locked-in, that is they reduce their effort to find a regular job. This paper uses an administrative dataset from the...

This paper uses information about prime age individuals living in Amsterdam to study the dynamics in the use of tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine. The analysis examines transitions from non-use to use, as well as transitions from use to non-use. Particular attention is given to the effect of the...

This chapter analyses the tensions between books and book markets as expressions of culture and books as products in profit-making businesses and includes insights from the theory of industrial organisation. Governments intervene in the market for books through laws concerning prices of books,...

This article analyses the design of optimal unemployment insurance in a search equilibrium framework where search effort among the unemployed is not perfectly observable. We examine to what extent the optimal policy involves monitoring of search effort and benefit sanctions if observed search is...