Unemployment duration and the restart effect: Some experimental evidence

In this paper we analyse the effect of the Restart programme in the United Kingdom. This programme consists of an interview of the long-term unemployed to counsel them on effective job search. Failure to attend the interview carries the threat of the cessation of unemployment benefits. The results, using experimental data, indicate that the programme has a significant effect of reducing unemployment duration. Estimation of an independent competing risks model distinguishing between exits from unemployment to: a job, a training placement or to signing-off unemployment benefit shows that the channels through which Restart works differs according to exit type.