Testing a financial incentive to promote re-employment among displaced workers :  the Canadian Earning Supplement Project (ESP) 

 -  2001 
<br/><br/> This article presents findings from a randomized experiment conducted in four Canadian provinces to measure the effects of a generous financial incentive that was designed to promote rapid re-employment among worker who were displaced from  their jobs by changing economic conditions. The incentive tested was an earnings supplement which, for as long as 2 years and as much as $250 weekly, would replace 75 percent of the earning loss incurred by displaced workers who took a new lower-paying full-time job within six months of receiving a supplement offer. Findings from the experiment indicate that although persons offered the supplement understood its terms and conditions, only 2 out of 10 actually received supplement payments. Furthermore, the supplement offer had little effect on job-search behavior, employment prospects, or receipt of unemployment insurance. Nevertheless, persons who received supplement payments, benefited from them substantially. On average, they received payments for 64 weeks, totaling  8.705