Do the rich stay unemployed longer? An empirical study for the U.K

This paper investigates the impact of individual asset holdings on the probability of leaving unemployment. According to the theory, higher levels of financial wealth will result in higher reservation wages and longer unemployment durations. I estimate the impact of beginning of period financial assets on the hazard rate, using data drawn from a UK inflow sample of the unemployed. The empirical findings indicate that individual asset holdings affect significantly the escape rate out of unemployment. In particular, negative levels of wealth increase significantly the hazard of leaving unemployment while positive levels of wealth reduce significantly the probability of leaving unemployment.