The Reservation Wage of Unemployed Persons in the Federal Republic of Germany: Theory and Empirical Tests / Wolfgang Franz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Franz, Wolfgang.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w0578.

NBER working paper series no. w0578

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Job hunting.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

The Reservation Wage of Unemployed Persons in the Federal Republic of Germany

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1980.

Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1980.

Summary:

This study examines the determinants of the reservation wage of unemployed persons in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1976. The theoretical section presents the derivation of an optimal reservation wage and shows the source of an ambiguity of some explanatory variables. The data basis are unemployed persons leaving the unemployment register within a given sample week. For a subset of them, we know their reservation wage and a set of personal characteristics. Other variables, such as the wage offer distribution and demand side variables, are obtained by employing other data. Methodological problems, such as as a sample selection bias, are taken into account. As a result, individual characteristics and the wage offer distribution are dominant causes of the reservation wage, but demand side variables and the entitlement to unemployment compensation play minor roles.

Notes:

Print version record

November 1980.