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The Determinants of Reservation Wages in Germany Does a Motivation Gap Exist?

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  • Christensen, Björn

Abstract

This paper investigates the reservation wages of unemployed persons on the basis of a job-search model with non-static reservation wages using panel data from Germany from 1987 to 1998. The results suggest that reservation wages are relatively high in Germany compared to other countries. Furthermore, pooled regression results show that most recent wages and personal characteristics of the unemployed are the most important determinants of reservation wages. In contrast neither unemployment duration nor different kinds of unemployment benefits influence reservation wages. Hence the findings corroborate the hypothesis that unemployed persons are not subject to strong financial pressure and thus have no significant motivation to find a new job.

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  • Christensen, Björn, 2001. "The Determinants of Reservation Wages in Germany Does a Motivation Gap Exist?," Kiel Working Papers 1024, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1024
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    Cited by:

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    2. Horst Siebert, 2005. "Germany’s Stalling Economic Engine – How to Get it Running Again," De Economist, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 243-255, September.
    3. Marco Caliendo & Ludovica Gambaro & Peter Haan, 2009. "The impact of income taxation on the ratio between reservation and market wages and the incentives for labour supply," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(9), pages 877-883.
    4. Christensen, Björn, 2003. "Die Reform der Arbeitslosenversicherung im Zuge der Agenda 2010 und ihr Einfluss auf die Arbeitslosigkeitsdauer: Simulationsergebnisse auf Basis der nicht-stationären Suchtheorie," Kiel Working Papers 1171, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Hogan, Vincent, 2004. "Wage aspirations and unemployment persistence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1623-1643, November.
    6. Frenkel Michael & Stadtmann Georg & Zimmermann Lilli, 2023. "Labor market effects of COVID-19 shocks," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 59(1), pages 3-12, March.
    7. Christensen, Björn, 2003. "Die Validität erfragter Reservationslöhne: ein Test auf Basis der stationären Suchtheorie," Kiel Working Papers 1151, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Christensen Björn, 2005. "Reservationslöhne und Arbeitslosigkeitsdauer/ Reservation Wages and Unemployment Duration," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 225(3), pages 303-324, June.
    9. Christensen, Björn, 2003. "Selektionsverzerrungen, erfragte Reservationslöhne und Arbeitslosigkeitsdauer," Kiel Working Papers 1162, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Schäfer, Holger, 2002. "Lohnversicherung: Ein Vorschlag zur Reform der Arbeitslosenversicherung," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 29(3), pages 11-19.
    11. 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.
    12. Siebert, Horst, 2002. "Lohnsubventionen für den Niedriglohnbereich?," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 2788, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pooled Regression; Unemployment; Labour Supply; Reservation Wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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