Optimal Unemployment Insurance and International Risk Sharing
44 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2016
There are 2 versions of this paper
Optimal Unemployment Insurance and International Risk Sharing
Date Written: 2016-07
Abstract
We discuss how cross-country unemployment insurance can be used to improve international risk sharing. We use a two-country business cycle model with incomplete financial markets and frictional labor markets where the unemployment insurance scheme operates across both countries. Cross-country insurance through the unemployment insurance system can be achieved without affecting unemployment outcomes. The Ramsey-optimal policy however prescribes a more countercyclical replacement rate when international risk sharing concerns enter the unemployment insurance trade-off. We calibrate our model to Eurozone data and find that optimal stabilizing transfers through the unemployment insurance system are sizable and mainly stabilize consumption in the periphery countries, while optimal replacement rates are countercyclical overall. Moreover, we find that debt-financed national policies are a poor substitute for fiscal transfers.
Keywords: Fiscal Union, International Business Cycles, International Risk Sharing, Unemployment Insurance
JEL Classification: E32, E62, H21, J64
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation