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Unpublished Paper
Firms and Unemployment Insurance Take-Up
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
  • Marta Lachowska, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
  • Isaac Sorkin, Stanford University and National Bureau of Economic Research
  • Stephen A Woodbury, Michigan State University and W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Publication Date
7-25-2022
Series
Upjohn Institute working paper ; 22-369
DOI
10.17848/wp22-369
Abstract

We use administrative data to quantify the firm role in unemployment insurance (UI) take-up. First, there are firm 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 firm effects explain a large share of these income gradients. Third, high-claiming and low-appealing firms are desirable firms: 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 firms in the labor market, and have implications for the financing of UI.

Issue Date
July 2022
Note
Upjohn project #43000
Citation Information
Lachowska, Marta, Isaac Sorkin, and Stephen A. Woodbury. 2022. "Firms and Unemployment Insurance Take-Up." Upjohn Institute Working Paper 22-369. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.