@techreport{33fc7ac494c94d7a9708719a2a0b4c65,
title = "Switching from an inclining to a zero-level unemployment benefit profile: Good for work incentives?",
abstract = "This paper evaluates the impact on the transition to work of a policy reform in Belgium that restricted the access to a specific unemployment insurance scheme for young labor market entrants. This scheme entitles youths with no or little labor market experience to unemployment benefits after a waiting period of one year. As of 2015, the Belgian government unexpectedly scrapped benefit eligibility for youths who start the waiting period at the age of 24 or older. The reform implied a change from an inclining to a flat rate (zero-level) benefit profile. We use a difference-in-differences approach to identify the causal impact of this reform on fresh university graduates. Our main finding is that this reform only increases the transition to very short-lived jobs.",
keywords = "youth unemployment, unemployment insurance, policy evaluation, difference-in-differences",
author = "Bart Cockx and Koen Declercq and Muriel Dejemeppe and Leda Inga and \{Van der Linden\}, Bruno",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the editor, two anonymous referees and the review committee of the National Bank of Belgium for their valuable comments. We are grateful to the National Bank of Belgium for funding as well as FOREM and VDAB for providing the data. We thank the participants to the EALE 2019 and COMPIE 2018 conference for their comments and participants at seminars at UCLouvain and Ghent University. The usual disclaimer applies. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020",
year = "2020",
month = mar,
day = "16",
doi = "10.26481/umagsb.2020008",
language = "English",
series = "GSBE Research Memoranda",
publisher = "Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics",
number = "008",
address = "Netherlands",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics",
}