DP6711 Job Search Monitoring and Unemployment Duration: Evidence from a Randomised Control Trial

Author(s):	John Micklewright, Gyula Nagy
Publication Date:	February 2008
Keyword(s):	field experiment, Hungary, job search, unemployment insurance
JEL(s):	J64, J65, P23
Programme Areas:	Labour Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=6711

The administration of benefits is a relatively neglected aspect of the analysis of disincentive effects of unemployment benefit systems. We investigate this issue with a field experiment in Hungary involving random assignment of benefit claimants to treatment and control groups, a method of policy evaluation that is still rare in Europe. Treatment, involving a tightening of claim administration, has quite a large effect on durations on benefit of women aged 30 and over, while we find no effect for younger women or men.