Seek and Ye Shall Find: How Search Requirements Affect Job Finding Rates of Older Workers

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Unemployment insurance recipients in the Netherlands were for a long time exempted from the requirement to actively search for a job when they reached the age of 57.5. We study how this exemption affected the job finding rates of the recipients involved. We find evidence that the job finding rate of unemployed workers who were getting close to the age of 57.5 is reduced in anticipation of the removal of the search requirement. In addition we find a large negative effect on job finding rates of the actual removal of the search requirement. Apparently, even for persons with seemingly poor job prospects search requirements have a positive effect on finding rates. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E S

The Necessity of Self-Employment Towards Retirement: Evidence from Labor Market Dynamics and Search Requirements for Unemployment Benefits

“…57.5 are also affected by the reform. Hullegie & Van Ours (2013) find that individuals already reduced their search intensity about two months prior to the age of 57.5 in the period before 2004, meaning that persons anticipated the abolishment of search requirements at older ages.…”

“…The reform implied an exogenous and unanticipated shock in the attractiveness of unemployment as a pathway to retirement. Whereas Lammers et al (2013) and Hullegie & Van Ours (2013) investigate the effect of this reform on the outflow from welfare and substitution effect with regard to disability and early retirement 7 , we focus on substitution between unemployment and self-employment. Self-employment may increase when unemployment becomes less attractive as an exit route to retirement.…”

“…This paper analyzes labor market transitions using a dynamic multinomial logit model. 9 This model allows us to study the pathways through which people enter self-employment, to 7 Lammers et al (2013) and Hullegie & Van Ours (2013) both find that the 2004 UI reform significantly increased exits from unemployment to paid-employment. Lammers et al (2013) also find substitution effects between unemployment insurance and disability insurance.…”