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Norwegian

Unemployment Insurance and Underemployment

Link to article:

[DOI] [PDF]

Authors:

Godøy, Anna og Knut Røed

Year:

2016

Reference:

Labour

Volume 30, Issue 2, pages 158-179

Summary

Should unemployment insurance (UI) systems provide coverage for underemployed job seekers? Based on a statistical analysis of Norwegian unemployment spells, we conclude that the answer to this question is yes. Allowing insured job seekers to retain partial UI benefits during periods of insufficient part-time work not only reduces UI expenditures during the part-time work period, but it also unambiguously reduces the time until a regular self-supporting job is found. Probable explanations are that even small temporary part-time jobs provide access to useful vacancy information and that such jobs are used by employers as a screening device when hiring from the unemployment pool.

JEL:

C41;J65

Project:

Oppdragsgiver: Norges forskningsråd
Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: 202513
Frisch prosjekt: 1172 - Social Insurance and Labor Market Inclusion in Norway