Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP1534
Authors: Rudolf Winterebmer
Abstract: The paper studies the effect of potential unemployment benefit duration on the length of unemployment spells in Austria. It takes advantage of a quasi-experimental situation, where potential benefit duration was extended in 1988 for elderly workers living in specific regions of the country. The empirical analysis shows that men react significantly to benefit duration whereas women generally do not. The quantitative impact is smaller than in comparable studies for the Germany and the United States. Furthermore, the impact of extended benefit duration is differentiated for short and long spells. Whereas for long spells higher impacts for men as well as for women are found, no unemployment-prolonging effects for short spells could be detected.
Keywords: potential benefit duration; unemployment duration
JEL Codes: J14; J41; J65
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Extended potential unemployment benefit duration (J65) | Increase in unemployment duration for men (J64) |
| Extended potential unemployment benefit duration (J65) | Unemployment duration (J64) |
| Extended potential unemployment benefit duration (J65) | No significant change in unemployment duration for women (J79) |
| Length of unemployment spells (C41) | Impact of extended benefit duration (J65) |