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Full-Text Articles in Labor Economics

Strengths Of The Social Safety Net In The Great Recession : Supplemental Nutrition Assistance And Unemployment Insurance, Christopher J. O'Leary, David Walter Stevens, Stephen A. Wandner, Michael Wiseman Oct 2019

Strengths Of The Social Safety Net In The Great Recession : Supplemental Nutrition Assistance And Unemployment Insurance, Christopher J. O'Leary, David Walter Stevens, Stephen A. Wandner, Michael Wiseman

Christopher J. O'Leary

The contributors in this book use administrative data from six states from before, during, and after the Great Recession to gauge the degree to which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI) interacted. They also recommend ways that the program policies could be altered to better serve those suffering hardship as a result of future economic downturns.


Job-Interview Referrals Help Brazilians Find Formal-Sector Jobs, Christopher J. O'Leary, Túlio Cravo, Ana Cristina Sierra, Leandro Justino Veloso May 2019

Job-Interview Referrals Help Brazilians Find Formal-Sector Jobs, Christopher J. O'Leary, Túlio Cravo, Ana Cristina Sierra, Leandro Justino Veloso

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


The Effect Of Job Referrals On Labor Market Outcomes In Brazil, Christopher J. O'Leary, Túlio Cravo, Ana Cristina Sierra, Leandro Justino Veloso May 2019

The Effect Of Job Referrals On Labor Market Outcomes In Brazil, Christopher J. O'Leary, Túlio Cravo, Ana Cristina Sierra, Leandro Justino Veloso

Christopher J. O'Leary

This paper is the first to use program administrative data from Brazil’s National Employment System (SINE) to assess the impact of SINE job interview referrals on labor market outcomes. Data for a five-year period (2012–2016) are used to evaluate the impact of SINE on employment probability, wage rates, time until reemployment, and job tenure. Difference-in-differences estimates suggest that a SINE job interview referral increases the probability of finding a job within three months of the referral and reduces the number of months to find reemployment, the average job tenure of the next job, and the reemployment wage. Subgroup analysis suggests …


Increasing Beneficiary Retention In Food Assistance Programs, Colin Gray, Christopher J. O'Leary Mar 2019

Increasing Beneficiary Retention In Food Assistance Programs, Colin Gray, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Evaluating Public Employment Programs With Field Experiments: A Survey Of American Evidence, Christopher J. O'Leary Sep 2017

Evaluating Public Employment Programs With Field Experiments: A Survey Of American Evidence, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

Research in the 1970s based on observational data provided evidence consistent with predictions from economic theory that paying unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to involuntarily jobless workers prolongs unemployment. However, some scholars also reported estimates that the additional time spent in subsidized job search was productive. That is, UI receipt tended to raise reemployment wages after work search among the unemployed. A series of field experiments in the 1980s investigated positive incentives to overcome the work disincentive effects of UI. These were followed by experiments in the 1990s that evaluated the effects of restrictions on UI eligibility through stronger work search …


Demonstration And Evaluation Of The Short-Time Compensation Program In Iowa And Oregon: Final Report, Susan Houseman, Christopher J. O'Leary, Katharine G. Abraham, Frank Bennici, Susan Labin, Richard Sigman Sep 2017

Demonstration And Evaluation Of The Short-Time Compensation Program In Iowa And Oregon: Final Report, Susan Houseman, Christopher J. O'Leary, Katharine G. Abraham, Frank Bennici, Susan Labin, Richard Sigman

Christopher J. O'Leary

Short-time compensation (STC) is an optional program within some state unemployment insurance (UI) systems that allows employers experiencing a temporary reduction in business to lower the average hours of employees in lieu of laying them off. Employer use of the STC option has been low in states with STC programs. We conducted demonstrations in Iowa and Oregon to evaluate the effectiveness of several interventions designed to increase employer awareness and use of STC, including disseminating information about STC to specific employers (members of the “treatment” group) over a 12-month period. The main findings support the hypothesis that lack of awareness …


The Employment Service-Unemployment Insurance Partnership: Origin, Evolution, And Revitalization, David E. Balducchi, Christopher J. O'Leary Apr 2017

The Employment Service-Unemployment Insurance Partnership: Origin, Evolution, And Revitalization, David E. Balducchi, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

This study traces the origin and evolution of the partnership between the employment service and unemployment insurance programs in the United States. We examine objectives of the framers of the Wagner-Peyser and Social Security Acts that established these programs. Using primary sources, we then analyze early actions of the architects of social insurance to facilitate cooperation between the two programs to meet economic exigencies, grapple with political cronyism, and surmount legal barriers. We also discuss factors that caused changes in the employment service–unemployment insurance partnership over time. We identify reasons for the erosion in cooperation starting in the 1980s, and …


Lessons From The American Federal-State Unemployment Insurance System For A European Unemployment Benefits System, Christopher J. O'Leary, Burt S. Barnow Oct 2016

Lessons From The American Federal-State Unemployment Insurance System For A European Unemployment Benefits System, Christopher J. O'Leary, Burt S. Barnow

Christopher J. O'Leary

The federal-state system of unemployment insurance (UI) in the United States was established by the Social Security Act of 1935 during the Great Depression. Under the program, states provide temporary partial wage replacement to involuntarily unemployed workers with significant labor force attachment. The federal government induced states to establish UI programs through two means: 1) a uniform federal tax imposed on employer payrolls, with a 90 percent reduction granted in states operating approved UI programs, and 2) grants to states to administer their programs. The system has evolved into a collection of separate state programs adapted to different regional, economic, …


Are State Unemployment Insurance Reserves Sufficient For The Next Recession?, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kenneth J. Kline Jun 2016

Are State Unemployment Insurance Reserves Sufficient For The Next Recession?, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kenneth J. Kline

Christopher J. O'Leary

Regular state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are paid from state reserves held in unemployment trust fund accounts at the U.S. Treasury. Employers covered by the federal-state UI system make contributions to reserve accounts based on taxable wages. The federal government provides incentives for forward funding of benefits to support UI as an automatic macroeconomic stabilizer in the economy. However, the Great Recession exhausted UI reserves for the majority of states, and not all of them have yet replenished those reserves. Based on patterns observed over the past 40 years, in this paper we simulate the effects on state and systemwide …


Should Ui Eligibility Be Expanded To Low-Earning Workers? Evidence On Employment, Transfer Receipt, And Income From Administrative Data, Pauline Leung, Christopher J. O'Leary Sep 2015

Should Ui Eligibility Be Expanded To Low-Earning Workers? Evidence On Employment, Transfer Receipt, And Income From Administrative Data, Pauline Leung, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

Recent efforts to expand unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility are expected to increase low-earning workers’ access to UI. Although the expansion’s aim is to smooth the income and consumption of previously ineligible workers, it is possible that UI benefits simply displace other sources of income. Standard economic models predict that UI delays reemployment, thereby reducing wage income. Additionally, low-earning workers are often eligible for benefits from means-tested programs, which may decrease with UI benefits. In this paper, we estimate the impact of UI eligibility on employment, means-tested program participation, and income after job loss using a unique individual-level administrative data set …


Use Of Unemployment Insurance And Public Employment Services After Leaving Welfare, Christopher J. O'Leary Sep 2015

Use Of Unemployment Insurance And Public Employment Services After Leaving Welfare, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

In this paper I examine the rates at which adults in households recently receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) become jobless, apply for and receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, and participate in publicly funded employment services. I also investigate the correlation of UI and employment services receipt with maintenance of self-sufficiency through return to work and independence from TANF. The analysis is based on person-level administrative program records from four of the nine largest states between 1997 and 2003. Evidence suggests that three-quarters of new TANF leavers experience joblessness within three years, and one-quarter of the newly jobless apply …


Principles Of Labor Market Information, James F. Woods, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Principles Of Labor Market Information, James F. Woods, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Profiling Unemployment Insurance Beneficiaries, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Profiling Unemployment Insurance Beneficiaries, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Planning Guidelines For Active Labor Programs In Hungary, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Planning Guidelines For Active Labor Programs In Hungary, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Performance Management Of Employment Programs In Hungary And Poland, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Performance Management Of Employment Programs In Hungary And Poland, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Cost-Effectiveness Of Targeted Reemployment Bonuses, Christopher J. O'Leary, Paul T. Decker, Stephen A. Wandner Feb 2015

Cost-Effectiveness Of Targeted Reemployment Bonuses, Christopher J. O'Leary, Paul T. Decker, Stephen A. Wandner

Christopher J. O'Leary

Targeting reemployment bonus offers to unemployment insurance (UI) claimants identified as most likely to exhaust benefits is estimated to reduce benefit payments. We show that targeting bonus offers with profiling models similar to those in state Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services systems can improve cost effectiveness. Since estimated average benefit payments do not steadily decline as the eligibility screen is gradually tightened, we find that narrow targeting is not optimal. The best candidate is a low bonus amount with a long qualification period, targeted to the half of profiled claimants most likely to exhaust their UI benefit entitlement.


A System For Evaluating Employment Programs In Hungary, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

A System For Evaluating Employment Programs In Hungary, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Effectiveness Of Reemployment Strategies, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Effectiveness Of Reemployment Strategies, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


The Adequacy Of Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

The Adequacy Of Unemployment Insurance Benefits, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Evaluating Job Training In Two Chinese Cities, Benu Bidani, Chor-Ching Goh, Niels-Hugo Blunch, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Evaluating Job Training In Two Chinese Cities, Benu Bidani, Chor-Ching Goh, Niels-Hugo Blunch, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

Recent years have seen a surge in the evidence on the impacts of active labor market programs for numerous countries. However, little evidence has been presented on the effectiveness of such programs in China. Recent economic reforms, associated massive lay-offs, and accompanying public retraining programs make China fertile ground for rigorous impact evaluations. This study evaluates retraining programs for laid-off workers in the cities of Shenyang and Wuhan using a comparison group design. To our knowledge, this is the first evaluation of its kind in China. The evidence suggests that retraining helped workers find jobs in Wuhan, but had little …


Reconsidering Job Training And The Workforce Investment Act, Christopher J. O'Leary, Robert A. Straits, Stephen A. Wandner Feb 2015

Reconsidering Job Training And The Workforce Investment Act, Christopher J. O'Leary, Robert A. Straits, Stephen A. Wandner

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


State Ui Job Search Rules And Reemployment Services, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

State Ui Job Search Rules And Reemployment Services, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

This article examines whether unemployment insurance (UI) requirements pertaining to job searches and UI mechanisms connecting claimants with reemployment services tend to shorten the duration of those claimants' insured unemployment. Evidence is presented from a 2003 National Association of State Workforce Agencies survey of all State UI programs. Also presented is evidence about the effect of State UI policies and reemployment assistance on the duration of insured unemployment. Although the sizes of the estimated impacts differ, the consistent finding is that both UI work search requirements and UI reemployment services tend to shorten claimants' duration of insured unemployment by speeding …


Interstate Differences In Employer Tax Costs And Worker Benefits Of Unemployment Insurance: A Micro-Simulation Approach, Timothy L. Hunt, Christopher J. O'Leary, Wei-Jang Huang Feb 2015

Interstate Differences In Employer Tax Costs And Worker Benefits Of Unemployment Insurance: A Micro-Simulation Approach, Timothy L. Hunt, Christopher J. O'Leary, Wei-Jang Huang

Christopher J. O'Leary

This study compares employer unemployment insurance (UI) tax costs and worker UI benefits across the 28 largest industrial states for 1988. The comparison is done using a detailed computerized micro-simulation model which computes the worker UI benefits and employer UI taxes for each state. Assumed characteristics of employers and employees are held constant across the states so that differences in UI costs and benefits among the states can be attributed entirely to differences in UI statutes. The principal findings of this study are: (1) the UI system can be modeled fruitfully at the firm level, (2) there are significant UI …


Unemployment Insurance Policy In New England: Background And Issues, Robert Tannenwald, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

Unemployment Insurance Policy In New England: Background And Issues, Robert Tannenwald, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

Most states have exhausted their unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund and borrowed from the federal government at least once during the past 35 years. Under such circumstances, states are required by law to raise UI taxes to replenish their trust funds and to pay off their debts to the federal government. Since higher UI taxes increase employer costs, replenishment forces states into a trade-off between economic competitiveness and trust fund adequacy. Competitive pressures have raised questions about prevailing standards of adequacy and the speed at which they should be attained. Consequently, several states are contemplating tax reductions despite low reserves. …


Personal Reemployment Accounts, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts Feb 2015

Personal Reemployment Accounts, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


An Evaluation Of The Washington State Unemployment Insurance Earnings Deduction Experiment, Christopher J. O'Leary Feb 2015

An Evaluation Of The Washington State Unemployment Insurance Earnings Deduction Experiment, Christopher J. O'Leary

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Wytyczne Systemu Informacyjnego Zarzadzania (Siz) Dla Programow Rynku Pracy W Polsce, Christopher J. O'Leary, Andrew S. Targowski Feb 2015

Wytyczne Systemu Informacyjnego Zarzadzania (Siz) Dla Programow Rynku Pracy W Polsce, Christopher J. O'Leary, Andrew S. Targowski

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Reemployment And Earnings Recovery Among Older Unemployment Insurance Claimants, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts Feb 2015

Reemployment And Earnings Recovery Among Older Unemployment Insurance Claimants, Christopher J. O'Leary, Randall W. Eberts

Christopher J. O'Leary

The rate of involuntary job loss among older workers has increased in recent years. Previous research has found that after job separation older workers take longer to get back in jobs, and experience bigger earnings declines than younger prime age workers. These studies were based on surveys targeted at older and dislocated workers, which rely on retrospective interviews of strategic samples from the general labor force. Previous studies have not explicitly accounted for the availability of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits between jobs. This paper compares the adjustment to involuntary unemployment of older and younger prime age UI claimants, using a …


Ui As A Safety Net For Former Tanf Recipients: Final Report, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kenneth J. Kline Feb 2015

Ui As A Safety Net For Former Tanf Recipients: Final Report, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kenneth J. Kline

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.


Bonus Impacts On Receipt Of Unemployment Insurance, Paul T. Decker, Christopher J. O'Leary, Stephen A. Woodbury Feb 2015

Bonus Impacts On Receipt Of Unemployment Insurance, Paul T. Decker, Christopher J. O'Leary, Stephen A. Woodbury

Christopher J. O'Leary

No abstract provided.