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Reservation Wages and the Duration of Unemployment

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Heath

    (Reserve Bank of Australia)

  • Troy Swann

    (Reserve Bank of Australia)

Abstract

This paper investigates those factors which affect the duration of unemployment of Australian job seekers. The analysis uses data on individual job seekers from the Survey of Employment and Unemployment Patterns (SEUP) to assess the influence of a comprehensive array of personal and background characteristics on the duration of unemployment. The data set also provides job seekers’ responses concerning their minimum acceptable (or reservation) wage. The results suggest that around one-fifth of adult unemployed job seekers would be willing to work for a wage less than the legal minimum. It is also found that a job seekers’ reservation wage has little effect on his/her unemployment duration. Instead, the binding constraint for job seekers appears to be that they receive very few job offers. Although legal minimum wages could be part of the story, more research is required to properly understand their role in the dynamics of the labour market.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Heath & Troy Swann, 1999. "Reservation Wages and the Duration of Unemployment," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp1999-02, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp1999-02
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    File URL: https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/1999/pdf/rdp1999-02.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christensen, Björn, 2003. "Selektionsverzerrungen, erfragte Reservationslöhne und Arbeitslosigkeitsdauer," Kiel Working Papers 1162, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    2. 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).
    3. Vera A. Adamchik & Josef C. Brada & Arthur E. King, 2009. "Are Transition Economy Workers Underpaid?," Working Papers 278, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    4. Mushfek-Ul-Alam Chowdhury & Md. Aynul Islam, 2022. "Reservation Wage for High Skilled Graduates in Bangladesh: Preliminary Factors," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 15(12), pages 1-1, December.
    5. Böheim, René, 2002. "The association between reported and calculated reservation wages," ISER Working Paper Series 2002-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Nordlund, Madelende & Strandh, Mattias, 2014. "The relation between economic and non-economic incentives to work and employment chances among the unemployed," Working Paper Series 2014:23, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Marit Rõõm, 2003. "Reservation wages in Estonia," Labor and Demography 0303001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Jeff Borland, 2000. "Disaggregated Models of Unemployment in Australia," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2000n16, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    reservation wage; unemployment duration; minimum wage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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