This paper studies the impact of unemployment benefits on unemployment duration for East Germany using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. It concentrates on exit from unemployment into employment. Estimation results of a discrete-time hazard rate model imply that moderate cuts in the...

This study compares the duration of new job matches in the east and west German labour market that formed between the start of the German Economic, Monetary and Social Union in July 1990 and December 2000. The study relies on job duration data drawn from the German Socio-economic Panel. It shows...

Arbeitslosengeld-II-Bezieher, die ohne wichtigen Grund nicht mit den Jobcentern kooperieren oder sich nicht hinreichend darum bemühen, eine Erwerbsarbeit oder Ausbildung aufzunehmen, müssen mit Sanktionen als Kürzungen ihrer Arbeitslosengeld- II-Leistungen für eine Dauer von drei Monaten...

In this paper we investigate whether the extension of the entitlement to unemployment benefits in the mid 80s can explain the increase in the unemployment rates of unskilled and elder workers in western Germany. To answer this question we estimate a version of the Burdett-Mortensen search...

In 2005 a major reform of the German means-tested unemployment benefit system came into force. The reform aimed at activating benefit recipients, e.g., by a workfare programme, the so-called One-Euro-Job. This programme was implemented at a large scale. Participants receive their means-tested...

Arbeitslosengeld-II-Bezieher, die ohne wichtigen Grund nicht mit den Jobcentern kooperieren oder sich nicht hinreichend darum bemühen, eine Erwerbsarbeit oder Ausbildung aufzunehmen, müssen mit Sanktionen als Kürzungen ihrer Arbeitslosengeld- II-Leistungen für eine Dauer von drei Monaten...

Social welfare systems usually imply specific obligations for benefit recipients. If a recipient does not comply with these obligations, a sanction involving a punitive benefits reduction may be imposed. In this paper we give an overview of the literature on the effects of sanctions in social...