RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Match Quality Gains from Unemployment Insurance
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 839
OP 863
DO 10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.3.839
VO XXXIX
IS 3
A1 Mário Centeno
YR 2004
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XXXIX/3/839.abstract
AB This paper assesses the benefits of unemployment insurance (UI) by measuring its effect in match quality. We note that UI generosity should affect the decision to match or not and should therefore have some effect on match quality. Using NLSY data, we analyze the relationship between postunemployment job tenure and measures of the state-level UI generosity and the unemployment rate at the time the job is started. We show that greater UI generosity leads to longer job tenure. Furthermore, we find some evidence that this effect is more pronounced during busts, UI having a limited dampening effect on the cyclical variation in match quality.