Anspruchslohn und Arbeitslosigkeit in Deutschland (Reservation wage and unemployment in Germany)

For the integration of unemployed persons into the first labour market, the reservation wage of the unemployed plays an important role. It is the wage level from which the unemployed person is prepared to accept a job offer. The paper examines the level and the determinants of reservation wages ascertained in the socio-economic panel (GSOEP 2000). Reservation wages in Germany are on average above wages before unemployment and very high in international comparison. It seems that unemployed take their last wage rate before unemployment as a guideline and reduce wage demands only slightly with longer unemployment. Unemployed people with low incomes before unemployment show a clearly higher relative reservation wage than unemployed people with a high former income - due to the small wage gap by the relatively high transfer incomes. Individual personal characteristics are most important, not macro-economic factors of influence. (IAB2)