In this paper we assess the relationship between labor policies and market outcomes in Bolivia, accounting for a large informal sector mostly comprised of self-employed entrepreneurs. We calibrate a job search and matching model to reproduce labor market features in 2013, a period in which...

The paper analyzes key labor market and institutional features of developing countries that affect functioning of unemployment insurance: a large informal sector, weak administrative capacity, and large political risk. It argues that these countries should tailor an OECD-style unemployment...

In reforming unemployment benefit systems, the policy debate should be on the appropriate level of benefits, the subsidies needed for people who cannot contribute enough, and how to finance the subsidies, rather than on whether unemployment insurance or individual unemployment savings accounts...