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An Institutional Perspective on Unemployment Insurance Programs: Historical Debates and Future Policy Reforms in the Coronavirus Recession

Abstract: In 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic created the conditions for a major recession, debates erupted over the structure and funding of unemployment insurance programs. The prior 2008–09 recession had already decimated many state unemployment programs, and along with major shifts in the workforce (including the gig economy), major policy questions surrounded the structure and funding of this state-national program. Stimulus efforts in early 2020 provided some temporary relief, but offered no permanent structural change on par with this shift in the workforce. As these programs end and no definitive structural changes are in sight, a number of think tanks including the Economic Policy Institute and the Century Foundation are advocating for major changes in unemployment insurance. Using the Commons ethical ideal type framework, this article explores the basic foundations of the employment relationship in a historical context and whether it has changed in a way that directly impacts the policy of unemployment insurance.