January 2008

IZA DP No. 3289: Do Reservation Wages Really Decline? Some International Evidence on the Determinants of Reservation Wages

published in: Journal of Labor Research, 2009, 30 (1), 1 - 8

Using cross-country data, we investigate the determinants of reservation wages and their course over the jobless spell. Higher unemployment benefits lead to higher reservation wages. Further, again consistent with the basic search model, repeated observations on the same individual provide scant evidence of declining reservation wages.