Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Monitoring and Sanctions

This paper analyzes the design of optimal unemployment insurance in a search equilibrium framework where search effort among the unemployed is not perfectly observable.We examine to what extent the optimal policy involves monitoring of search effort and benefit sanctions if observed search is deemed insuficient.We find that introducing monitoring and sanctions represents a welfare improvement for reasonable estimates of monitoring costs; this conclusion holds both relative to a system featuring indefinite payments of benefits and a system with a time limit on unemployment benefit receipt.The optimal sanction rates implied by our calibrated model are much higher than the sanction rates typically observed in European labor markets.unemployment insurance;job search

Current-voltage characteristics of the two-dimensional XY model with Monte Carlo dynamics

Current-voltage characteristics and the linear resistance of the two-dimensional XY model with and without external uniform current driving are studied by Monte Carlo simulations. We apply the standard finite-size scaling analysis to get the dynamic critical exponent $z$ at various temperatures. From the comparison with the resistively-shunted junction dynamics, it is concluded that $z$ is universal in the sense that it does not depend on details of dynamics. This comparison also leads to the quantification of the time in the Monte Carlo dynamic simulation.Comment: 5 pages in two columns including 5 figures, to appear in PR

Magnetic-field dependence of dynamical vortex response in two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays and superconducting films

The dynamical vortex response of a two-dimensional array of the resistively shunted Josephson junctions in a perpendicular magnetic field is inferred from simulations. It is found that, as the magnetic field is increased at a fixed temperature, the response crosses over from normal to anomalous, and that this crossover can be characterized by a single dimensionless parameter. It is described how this crossover should be reflected in measurements of the complex impedance for Josephson junction arrays and superconducting films.Comment: 4 pages including 5 figures in two columns, final versio

Charge Transport in the Dense Two-Dimensional Coulomb Gas

The dynamics of a globally neutral system of diffusing Coulomb charges in two dimensions, driven by an applied electric field, is studied in a wide temperature range around the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. I argue that the commonly accepted ``free particle drift'' mechanism of charge transport in this system is limited to relatively low particle densities. For higher densities, I propose a modified picture involving collective ``partner transfer'' between bound pairs. The new picture provides a natural explanation for recent experimental and numerical findings which deviate from standard theory. It also clarifies the origin of dynamical scaling in this context.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 2 eps figures included; some typos corrected, final version to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

The outcome of arthroscopic treatment of temporomandibular joint arthoropathy

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Ninety patients underwent arthroscopic temporomandibular joint surgery to 124 joints for arthropathy which had failed to respond to at least six months of non-surgical treatment. They were surveyed at between 6 months and 5 years (mean 2.5 years) after surgery and 63 per cent responded to the survey. They reported an 82 per cent improvement for pain (50 to 100 per cent better), 80 per cent for clicking and 82 per cent for locking. There was no morbidity following the treatment. Arthroscopic surgery sould be considered for advanced temporomandibular joint arthropathy which is refractory to non-surgical treatment.I. Rosenburg and A. N. Gos

Dynamic scaling for 2D superconductors, Josephson junction arrays and superfluids

The value of the dynamic critical exponent $z$ is studied for two-dimensional superconducting, superfluid, and Josephson Junction array systems in zero magnetic field via the Fisher-Fisher-Huse dynamic scaling. We find $z\simeq5.6\pm0.3$, a relatively large value indicative of non-diffusive dynamics. Universality of the scaling function is tested and confirmed for the thinnest samples. We discuss the validity of the dynamic scaling analysis as well as the previous studies of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition in these systems, the results of which seem to be consistent with simple diffusion ($z=2$). Further studies are discussed and encouraged.Comment: 19 pages in two-column RevTex, 8 embedded EPS figure

The effect of lifelong learning on men's wages

This paper develops a model of earnings and applies this to an examination of the effect of lifelong learning on men’s wages. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, a variant of the mover–stayer model is developed in which hourly wages are either taken from a stationary distribution (movers) or closely related to the hourly wage one year earlier (stayers). Mover–stayer status is not observed, and we therefore model wages using an endogenous switching regression, estimated by maximum likelihood. Methodologically, the results support the mover–stayer characterisation since the restrictions required for the simpler specifications popular in the literature are rejected. Substantively, simulation of the estimated model shows some statistically significant effects from acquiring qualifications of a higher level than those previously held, but not from acquiring qualifications of the same level

Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Monitoring and Sanctions

This paper analyzes the design of optimal unemployment insurance in a search equilibrium framework where search effort among the unemployed is not perfectly observable.We examine to what extent the optimal policy involves monitoring of search effort and benefit sanctions if observed search is deemed insuficient.We find that introducing monitoring and sanctions represents a welfare improvement for reasonable estimates of monitoring costs; this conclusion holds both relative to a system featuring indefinite payments of benefits and a system with a time limit on unemployment benefit receipt.The optimal sanction rates implied by our calibrated model are much higher than the sanction rates typically observed in European labor markets