Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/171024 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11040
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Caseworkers are the main human resource used to provide social services. This paper asks if, and how much, caseworkers matter for the outcomes of unemployed individuals. Using large-scale administrative data, I exploit exogenous variation in unplanned absences among Swiss UI caseworkers. I find that individuals who lose an early meeting with their caseworker stay on average 10 days longer in unemployment (5% relative to the mean). Results show large heterogeneity in the economic value of caseworkers: the effect of a foregone meeting doubles for caseworkers in the highest productivity tercile, while it is zero for caseworkers in the lowest tercile. Finally, absences induce negative spillover effects on the performance of present colleagues, who have to cover additional workload.
Subjects: 
unemployment insurance
public human resources
caseworkers
JEL: 
J64
J65
M50
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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