@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18537,
            	author={Hensel, Lukas and Abebe, Girum and Gerard, Francois and Caria, Stefano},
            	title={Mitigating the Consequences of Job Loss in Lower-Income Countries:  Evidence from Ethiopia},
            	year={2026},
	month={Apr},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18537},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18537},
	abstract={Job loss is an understudied risk for formal workers in lower-income countries. In these settings, lump-sum severance pay is often the only source of job-loss insurance. We quasi experimentally show that female factory workers in Ethiopia displaced by a tariff hike experience lasting declines in employment and consumption spending, and rising poverty. Experimentally, we find that additional lump-sum support induces early spending and reduces overall and manufacturing employment persistently. Disbursing an equivalent amount in tranches improves consumption smoothing and avoids adverse employment effects. Further, we document a high willingness to pay for additional insurance, alongside heterogeneous preferences over disbursement modality that shape responses to our interventions. These findings imply that increasing job-loss insurance raises welfare, although moving away from the lump-sum default can generate substantial additional gains.},
	keywords={job loss;job-loss insurance;trade shock},
            }