In 2005, the unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed were reduced inGermany. We investigate the effect of this reform on the transition probability fromunemployment to employment using a large German administrative spell data set (SIAB1975–2010). We estimate that the daily transition...

We examine whether income and unemployment risks are compensated by individual wages. Using a portfolio approach we show that the marginal income risk effect on wages is always positive whereas the marginal unemployment risk effect crucially depends on the income risk. The interaction effect...

As a new approach we study individual wage compensations due to income risksmeasured by the variance and skewness of the wage distributions in different occupational groups. Using German administrative panel data and estimating a fixed effects model we confirm the expected positive effect of the...

The statutory pension system is still the most important income source among seniorcitizens in Germany. Due to increasing disruptions in employment biographies since the1970s and due to the mass unemployment in Eastern Germany since the 1990s, there isa growing fear of post-retirement poverty in...

In this paper, we contribute to the literature on the impact of the unemployment benefit on (reservation) wages. We use the German BA-Employment Panel (2008) to identify the effect of a reduced unemployment benefit due to the labor market reform of 2005 in Germany. Using this unique experiment,...

We examine the impact of lay-off risks on wages. Portfolio as well as search theoreticmodelling predicts higher exogenous lay-off risks to go along with higher wages. But,an impact of wages on lay-off risks (e.g., endogenous job destruction) is also plausible.Using the German BA Employment Panel...