Creating a UI System for the Twenty-First Century: Lessons from the Great Recession

Grant Year: 2019

Till von Wachter will assess whether and how the unemployment insurance system could be reformed in ways that encourage employment while still supporting dislocated workers. He will undertake a series of analyses using data on more than 33 million unemployment insurance claims made in California between 2000 and 2017. The analyses will estimate the impact of extensions in unemployment insurance eligibility and increases in benefit levels during the Great Recession on employment patterns and local economic conditions. He will also assess how the system’s financing mechanisms shaped the decisions of firms to lay off employees. The project’s findings will appear in a series of papers and a policy brief summarizing the results.