Volume 29, Number 3 (Summer) 1994
Johnson, Terry R., and Daniel H. Klepinger. 1994. "Experimental Evidence on Unemployment Insurance Work-Search Policies." Journal of Human Resources 29(3):695-717.
This paper describes findings from an experimental evaluation of alternative work-search policies in the Unemployment Insurance (UI program. We find that the no work-search treatment significantly increased UI receipt, relative to the standard work-search approach, by 3.3 weeks and $265 per claimant, and that the treatment with the most intensive requirements reduced UI payments by one-half of a week or $70 per claimant. The results suggest that work-search requirements reduce UI spells by increasing the nonmonetary costs of remaining on UI, rather than enhancing job search abilities. We also find little treatment effects for wages, earnings, or total income, suggesting that an increase in the nonmonetary costs of continued UI receipt are associated with more intensive job search, rather than a reduction in the reservation wage.
Terry R. Johnson and Daniel H. Klepinger are research Scientists at Battelle Memorial Institute in Seattle, Washington. This research was supported by the Washington State Employment Security Department, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful research assistance of David Sommers, and the support of Robert G. Spiegelman, Judy Johnson, and Lloyd Williams. Orley Ashenfelter, Paul Burgess, Mark Gritz, and two anonymous referees provided helpful comments on an earlier draft. The authors are solely responsible for any remaining errors. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in February 1995 through February 1998 from Terry R. Johnson, Battelle, 4000 NE 41st Street, Seattle, WA 98105.
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