To search or not to search? The effects of UI benefit extension for the older unemployed

In Finland the older unemployed can collect unemployment insurance benefits until retirement, while the entitlement period for younger groups is two years. In 1997 the eligibility age of persons benefiting from extended benefits was raised from 53 to 55. This paper takes advantage of this quasi-experimental setting to identify the effect of extended benefits on transitions out of unemployment among the older unemployed. We apply a competing risks version of a split population duration model to account for multiple exit routes and the possibility that some of the older unemployed may not be active in the labour market due to pension rules. Our finding is that roughly half of the unemployed with extended benefits withdraw from job search.