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Do reservation wages react to regional unemployment?

Author

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  • Blien, Uwe

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany)

  • Messmann, Susanne
  • Trappmann, Mark

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany)

Abstract

"Reservation wages indicate the wage threshold for which individual workers are inclined to supply their working capacity. In important theoretical approaches it is assumed that this threshold depends on the unemployment rate. If this is true, the variation of reservation wages might be an important force behind the regional 'wage curve', which has been estimated in many empirical studies. Up to now, the connection of regional unemployment with reservation wages has not been tested, since research possibilities depend on survey data which were not available. With the 'Labour Market and Social Security' study (PASS), a new large panel survey in Germany, information on regional reservation wages is available. The empirical analysis with this data opens up the 'black box' of the wage generation process and delivers insights about its determining factors. The analysis is based on job matching and efficiency wage theory which are used to derive a relationship between unemployment and reservation wages." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Blien, Uwe & Messmann, Susanne & Trappmann, Mark, 2012. "Do reservation wages react to regional unemployment?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201222, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201222
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hila Axelrad & Israel Luski & Miki Malul, 2017. "Reservation Wages and the Unemployment of Older Workers," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 206-227, June.
    2. Soumya Basu & Anton N Isaacs, 2019. "Profile of transcultural patients in a regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Gippsland, Australia: The need for a multidimensional understanding of the complexities," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(3), pages 217-224, May.
    3. Mark Trappmann & Jonas Beste & Arne Bethmann & Gerrit Müller, 2013. "The PASS panel survey after six waves [Die PASS-Panelbefragung nach sechs Wellen]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 46(4), pages 275-281, December.
    4. Trappmann, Mark & Beste, Jonas & Bethmann, Arne & Müller, Gerrit, 2013. "The PASS panel survey after six waves," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(4), pages 275-281.
    5. Anne Bucher & Sébastien Ménard, 2015. "The effects of firing costs on the wage contracts under adverse selection," Working Papers of BETA 2015-17, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    6. Liina Malk, 2015. "Determinants of reservation wages: empirical evidence for Estonia," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-8, Bank of Estonia, revised 20 Jan 2015.
    7. Rokicki, Bartlomiej & Blien, Uwe & Hewings, Geoffrey J. D. & Phan thi Hong, Van, 2020. "Is there a Wage Curve with Regional Real Wages?," IAB-Discussion Paper 202017, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Effizienzlohntheorie ; Einkommenserwartung ; Lohnfindung ; Lohnkurve ; regionale Verteilung ; regionaler Arbeitsmarkt ; Arbeitslosigkeit ; IAB-Haushaltspanel ; 2006-2007;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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