This paper shows
that optimal unemployment insurance contracts are age-dependent. Older workers
have only a few years left on the labor market prior to retirement.
This short horizon implies
a more digressive replacement ratio. However, there is a sufficiently short
distance to retirement for which flat unemployment benefits can be the optimal
contract as the nearly retired unemployed workers rationally expect never to
suffer from the punishment.
This is why imposing a tax
on the future job is particularly efficient in the context of older workers
because the agency can now reward the job search by present employment subsidies.
Moreover, we propose adopting
a global approach to unemployment insurance by determining an optimal contract
that integrates unemployment insurance and retirement pension systems.
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