全球智库信息集成服务系统(G2TT): DP13293 Wages and the Value of Nonemployment

G2TT

来源类型	Discussion paper
规范类型	论文
来源ID	DP13293
	DP13293 Wages and the Value of Nonemployment
	Simon Jäger; Benjamin Schoefer; Josef Zweimüller
发表日期	2018-11-02
出版年	2018
语种	英语
摘要	Nonemployment is often posited as a worker’s outside option in wage setting models such as bargaining and wage posting. The value of this state is therefore a fundamental determinant of wages and, in turn, labor supply and job creation. We measure the effect of changes in the value of nonemployment on wages in existing jobs and among job switchers. Our quasi-experimental variation in nonemployment values arises from four large reforms of unemployment insurance (UI) benefit levels in Austria. We document that wages are insensitive to UI benefit levels: point estimates imply a wage response of less than $0.01 per $1.00 UI benefit increase, and we can reject sensitivities larger than 0.03. In contrast, a calibrated Nash bargaining model predicts a sensitivity of 0.39 – more than ten times larger. The empirical insensitivity holds even among workers with a priori low bargaining power, with low labor force attachment, with high predicted unemployment duration, among job switchers and recently unemployed workers, in areas of high unemployment, in firms with flexible pay policies, and when considering firm-level bargaining. The insensitivity of wages to the nonemployment value we document presents a puzzle to widely used wage setting protocols, and implies that nonemployment may not constitute workers’ relevant threat point. Our evidence supports wage-setting mechanisms that insulate wages from the value of nonemployment.
主题	Labour Economics
关键词	Wages Bargaining Unemployment benefits Nonemployment
URL	https://cepr.org/publications/dp13293
来源智库	Centre for Economic Policy Research (United Kingdom)
资源类型	智库出版物
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/542104
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Simon Jäger,Benjamin Schoefer,Josef Zweimüller. DP13293 Wages and the Value of Nonemployment. 2018.