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Firms and Unemployment Insurance Take-up

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Lachowska
  • Isaac Sorkin
  • Stephen A. Woodbury
Abstract
We use administrative data to quantify the employer’s role in unemployment insurance (UI) take-up. First, there are employer effects in both claiming and appeals, and, consistent with deterrence effects, these are negatively correlated. Second, low-wage workers are less likely to claim and more likely to have their claims appealed than median-wage workers, and employer effects explain a large share of these income gradients. Third, high-claiming and low-appealing employers are desirable employers: they are higher-paying and have lower separation rates. Finally, the dominant source of targeting error in the UI system is that eligible workers do not apply. Our findings emphasize a novel dimension of the role of employers in the labor market, and have implications for the financing of UI.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Lachowska & Isaac Sorkin & Stephen A. Woodbury, 2022. "Firms and Unemployment Insurance Take-up," NBER Working Papers 30266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30266
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Anikó Bíró & Márta Bisztray & João G. da Fonseca & Tímea Laura Molnár, 2023. "Accident-induced absence from work and wage ladders," IFS Working Papers W23/30, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Acosta, Miguel & Mueller, Andreas I. & Nakamura, Emi & Steinsson, Jón, 2023. "Macroeconomic Effects of UI Extensions at Short and Long Durations," IZA Discussion Papers 16400, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mark Duggan & Audrey Guo & Andrew C. Johnston, 2023. "Experience Rating as an Automatic Stabilizer," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 109-133.
    4. Christopher J. O'Leary & Salomon Orellana & Kevin Doyle & Randall W. Eberts & Ben Damerow & Amy Myers & Kenneth Kline & Anna Wilcoxson & Beth C. Truesdale & Scott Powell, 2023. "Predictive Analytics Supporting Labor Market Success: A Career Explorer for Job Seekers and Workforce Professionals in Michigan," Upjohn Working Papers 23-391, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    5. Serdar Birinci & Youngmin Park & Kurt See, 2023. "The Heterogeneous Impacts of Job Displacement: Evidence from Canadian Job Separation Records," Working Papers 2023-022, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 30 Nov 2024.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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