TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Spector, Susanne Ek
AU  - Holmlund, Bertil
        TI  - Part-Time Unemployment and Optimal Unemployment Insurance
        PY  - 2011/Feb/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 5540
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp5540
        AB  - A significant fraction of the labor force consists of employed workers who are part-time unemployed (underemployed) in the sense that they are unable to work as much as they prefer. This paper develops a search and matching model to study the design of optimal unemployment insurance in an economy with unemployment as well as part-time unemployment. Part-time unemployment provides income insurance and serves as a stepping stone to full-time jobs. Unemployment benefits for part-timers increase the outflow from unemployment to part-time work but reduce the outflow from part-time work to full-time employment. We examine the optimal structure of benefits for unemployed and underemployed workers. The results indicate non-negligible welfare gains associated with time limits for unemployment benefits as well as for part-time benefits. The welfare gains from optimal UI are larger when wages are fixed than when they are flexible.
        KW  - part-time unemployment
KW  - unemployment insurance
KW  - job search
        ER  -