Figure: Differences in weekly benefit receipt following a potential benefit duration extension.

Abstract: Do more generous unemployment benefits help workers find better jobs? Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity and administrative data, I study a temporary UI benefit extension introduced during a downturn triggered by a global oil price shock. I find that additional weeks of benefit entitlement significantly increase re-employment earnings, raise the probability of returning to the same industry, reduce entry into self-employment, and boost both before- and after-tax income as well as government tax revenues.

Joint work with Gustavo Bobonis, Aneta Bonikowska, Philip Oreopoulos, and W. Craig Riddell.
Conditionally accepted at American Economic Journal: Applied.

Figure: Annual earnings changes based on plus-minus regression estimates.

Abstract: We study the medium- and long-run impacts of the Canada Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) Plus program, which randomly offered intensive employment support services for up to three years to long-term welfare recipients eligible for temporary earnings subsidies. We examine whether this intervention—designed to address both economic and psychosocial barriers to finding and retaining desirable employment—produced long-run changes in individuals' socioeconomic trajectories. We link study participants to their federal tax and employer-employee matched records for up to 20 years following random assignment. The intensive services treatment resulted in a 20–27 percent increase in participants' annual earnings over the 20-year period and sustained increases in full-time employment during the first decade post-intervention. As potential mechanisms, treated individuals engaged in more job search and job-to-job transitions and secured employment in higher-wage jobs and at higher-paying firms.

Figure: Trends in total parental leave claims over time.

Abstract: Work in progress. This study evaluates how reforms to parental leave policies affect family dynamics, labor market outcomes, and time allocation between parents. Preliminary results suggest that expanded leave entitlements shift caregiving responsibilities and improve long-run employment stability for both mothers and fathers.