Income Support for the Unemployed

by Vodopivec, Milan

• ISBN13: 9780821357613
• ISBN10: 0821357611
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: World Bank

Summary

With the aim to provide guidelines for countries wishing to introduce or improve income support systems for the unemployed, the book summarizes the evidence about the performance of five such systems:- unemployment insurance,- unemployment assistance,- unemployment insurance savings accounts,- severance pay, and- public works.These systems are evaluated by two sets of criteria: (i) performance criteria, evaluating how well these systems work--how they protect incomes and what other, particularly efficiency related, effects they may have; and (ii) design and implementation criteria, evaluating how these systems fit the country--how suitable these programs are given country-specific conditions, chief among them being labor market and other institutions, the capacity needed for administering income support programs, the size of the informal sector, and prevalence of private transfers.Income Support for the Unemployed also offers summary evaluations of alternative systems by describing the strengths and weaknesses of each system and pointing out the country specific circumstances which are particularly conducive to performance.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
1. Introduction	1	(4)
2. Conceptual Issues	5	(20)
Objectives of Income Support Programs for the Unemployed	7	(1)
Accounting for Interactions among Social Risk Management Mechanisms	8	(6)
Establishing Evaluation Criteria	14	(3)
Why Should the Public Sector Provide Unemployment Insurance?	17	(2)
Who Should Receive Unemployment Income Support?	19	(2)
Summary	21	(4)
3. Review of Income Support Programs for the Unemployed	25	(40)
Typology and Description of Main Income Support Programs	25	(27)
The Incidence of Income Support Programs for the Unemployed	52	(10)
Concluding Remarks	62	(1)
Annex 3.1 Determinants of Social Insurance Programs for the Unemployed	63	(2)
4. Performance of Income Support Programs: Theoretical Aspects and Empirical Evidence	65	(66)
Income Protection Effects	66	(15)
Efficiency Effects	81	(23)
Suitability to Confront Different Shocks	104	(7)
Resistance to Political Risk	111	(6)
Concluding Remarks	117	(1)
Annex 4.1 Efficiency Effects of Income Support Programs	118	(13)
5. Design and Implementation Criteria: Exploring Country-Specific Conditions	131	(22)
Interactions with Labor Market Institutions and Shocks	131	(2)
Administrative Capacity for Program Implementation	133	(4)
Characteristics of Unemployment	137	(1)
Size of the Informal Sector	138	(1)
Prevalence and Pattern of Interhousehold Transfers	139	(2)
Nonsocial Insurance and Self-Protection	141	(4)
The Nature of Shocks	145	(1)
Cultural and Political Factors	146	(5)
Concluding Remarks	151	(2)
6. Improving Income Support Programs for the Unemployed in Developing Countries	153	(34)
Choosing the Right Program	153	(24)
Designing Unemployment Insurance	177	(3)
Improving Income Protection of the Informal Sector	180	(3)
Concluding Remarks	183	(4)
References	187	(22)
Index	209