TY  - UNPD
A1  - Fitzenberger, Bernd
A1  - Wilke, Ralf A.
T1  - Unemployment durations in West-Germany before and after the reform of the unemployment compensation system during the 1980s
T2  - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung: Discussion paper ; No. [20]04,24 : Labour economics, human resources and social policy
N2  - This paper analyzes empirically the distribution of unemployment durations in West- Germany before and after the changes during the mid 1980s in the maximum entitlement periods for unemployment benefits for elderly unemployed. The analysis is based on the comprehensive IAB employment subsample containing register panel data for about 500.000 individuals in West Germany. We analyze two proxies for unemployment since the data do not precisely measure unemployment in an economic sense. We provide a theoretical analysis of the link between the durations of nonemployment and of unemployment between jobs. Our empirical analysis finds significant changes in the distributions of nonemployment durations for older unemployed individuals. At the same time, the distribution of unemployment durations between jobs did not change in response to the reforms. Our findings are consistent with an interpretation that many firms and workers used the more bene cial laws as a part of early retirement packages but those workers who were still looking for a job did not reduce their search effort in response to the extension of the maximum entitlement periods. This interpretation is consistent with our theoretical model under plausible assumptions. JEL: C24, J64, J65
KW  - Arbeitslosenversicherung
KW  - definition of unemployment
KW  - duration analysis
KW  - unemployment insurance
KW  - Reform
KW  - Flexible Altersgrenze
KW  - Arbeitslosigkeit
KW  - Dauer
KW  - Schätzung
KW  - Deutschland
KW  - Geschichte 1975-1997
Y1  - 2004
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4861
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-5815
PB  - Zentrum für Europ. Wirtschaftsforschung
CY  - Mannheim
ER  -