CEA 42nd Annual Meetings
Friday, June 6 - Sunday, June 8, 2008
University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Author/Presenter Michael Smith (McGill University)
Co-author Heather Zhang (McGill University)
Title The Causes and Consequences of Unemployment Compensation Program generosity: What Do We Learn From Cross-National Analyses?
Abstract Interest in unemployment compensation transcends disciplinary boundaries. Research on it deals with both the sources of relative generosity in national systems and the consequences of that generosity for work incentives and the incidence of poverty. A significant proportion of the research on these subjects involves cross-national analyses using data sets from the OECD on the components of the unemployment compensation system. In this paper we examine the adequacy of the data used for the purposes to which it is put - and find it seriously wanting in several respects.

Keywords: Unemployment compensation; Cross-national analysis; OECD; Welfare State

CEA 2008 Conference | Conference Program