This paper estimates the causal effect of long-term unemployment on wages. Job search theory implies that if … Unemployment Insurance (UI) extensions do not affect wages conditional on the month of unemployment exit, then reservation wages do … not bind on average. Then, UI extensions affect mean wages only through unemployment durations and are valid instrumental …

characteristics of the unemployed are the most important determinants of reservation wages. In contrast neither unemployment duration … nor different kinds of unemployment benefits influence reservation wages. Hence the findings corroborate the hypothesis …

, whereby special focus is placed on unemployment duration. The results of the study indicate that in contrast to reservation … wages, offered wages decline considerably with duration of unemployment. This is the main reason that ratios of reservation … wages to offered wages increase rapidly with duration of unemployment; on average, reservation wages begin to exceed offered …