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Unemployment Benefit Levels and Search Activity

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  • Schmitt, John
  • Wadsworth, Jonathan

Abstract

This paper endogenises the job offer arrival rate in a standard search model in order to test the hypothesis that unemployment-related benefits may affect the job search behavior of unemployed workers independently of any reservation wage effect. Using a pooled cross-section of 1484 unemployed British men from the 1979 to 1982 General Household Surveys, we find that the level of benefit has no significant effect on unemployed search behavior. Any disincentive effect of an increase in benefits on the return to job search is offset by a positive stimulus to search from increased income. Factors which do have an important impact on search activity include: age, unemployment duration, occupation, and education level. Further, local labor market conditions affect only the job search behavior of the short-term unemployed. Copyright 1993 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Suggested Citation

  • Schmitt, John & Wadsworth, Jonathan, 1993. "Unemployment Benefit Levels and Search Activity," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 55(1), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:55:y:1993:i:1:p:1-24
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Morescalchi, 2016. "The Puzzle Of Job Search And Housing Tenure: A Reconciliation Of Theory And Empirical Evidence," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 288-312, March.
    2. Ortega, Javier & Rioux, Laurence, 2010. "On the extent of re-entitlement effects in unemployment compensation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 368-382, April.
    3. Guell, Maia, 2001. "Fixed-term contracts and the duration distribution of unemployment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20122, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Manning, Alan, 2009. "You can't always get what you want: The impact of the UK Jobseeker's Allowance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 239-250, June.
    5. Battu, Harminder & Seaman, Paul & Zenou, Yves, 2011. "Job contact networks and the ethnic minorities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 48-56, January.
    6. Parker, Simon C. & van Praag, Mirjam C., 2006. "The Entrepreneur's Mode of Entry: Business Takeover or New Venture Start," IZA Discussion Papers 2382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Andrea Morescalchi, 2021. "A new career in a new town. Job search methods and regional mobility of unemployed workers," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 20(2), pages 223-272, May.
    8. Stephan Thomsen & Mick Wittich, 2009. "Which one to choose? New evidence on the choice and success of job search methods," FEMM Working Papers 09022, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    9. Güell, Maia & Lafuente, Cristina, 2022. "Revisiting the determinants of unemployment duration: Variance decomposition à la ABS in Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Ayhan Görmüş, 2019. "Long-Term Youth Unemployment: Evidence from Turkish Household Labour Force Survey," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(3), pages 341-359, September.
    11. John T. Addison & Pedro Portugal, 2002. "Job search methods and outcomes," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 505-533, July.
    12. Bruno Van der Linden & Eric Dor, 2003. "The net effect of unemployment benefits, sanctions and training on regular employment," Working Papers 2003-ECO-01, IESEG School of Management.
    13. Vincenzo SPIEZIA, 2000. "The effects of benefits on unemployment and wages: A comparison of unemployment compensation systems," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 139(1), pages 73-90, March.
    14. Paternesi Meloni, Walter & Romaniello, Davide & Stirati, Antonella, 2022. "Inflation and the NAIRU: assessing the role of long-term unemployment as a cause of hysteresis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3085-3139 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. P. Taylor, Mark & Böheim, René, 2001. "Job search methods, intensity and success in Britain in the 1990s," ISER Working Paper Series 2001-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    17. Sarah Brown & Karl Taylor, 2008. "Reservation Wages, Expected Wages and Labour Market Outcomes: Analysis of Individual Level Panel Data," Working Papers 2008008, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2008.
    18. Van der Linden, Bruno & Dor, Eric, 1998. "The net effect of unemployment benefits, sanctions and training on aggregate unemployment outflows," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2000020, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES), revised 07 Sep 2000.
    19. Alexandra Heath, 1999. "Job-search Methods, Neighbourhood Effects and the Youth Labour Market," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp1999-07, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    20. Moundir LASSASSI, 2020. "Job seekers’ search intensity in Algeria: Does gender matter?," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 52, pages 59-81.
    21. Morescalchi Andrea & Paruolo Paolo, 2020. "Too Much Stick for the Carrot? Job Search Requirements and Search Behaviour of Unemployment Benefit Claimants," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, January.
    22. Christopher Opoku Nyarko & William Baah-Boateng & Edward Nketiah-Amponsah, 2014. "Determinants of Job Search Intensity in Ghana," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 8(2), pages 193-211, May.

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