Why do Some Studies Show that Generous Unemployment Benefits Increase Unemployment Rates? A Meta-Analysis of Cross-Country Studies

Abstract

This paper investigates the hypothesis that generous unemployment benefits give rise to high levels of unemployment by systematically reviewing 34 cross- country studies. In contrast to conventional literature surveys, I perform a meta-analysis which applies regression techniques to a set of results taken from the existing literature. The main finding is that the choice of the primary data and estimation method matter for the final outcome. The control variables in the primary studies also affect the results.meta-analysis; cross-country study; unemployment; benefits replacement rate; benefit duration