Do the Rich Stay Unemployed Longer? An Empirical Study for the UK

B-Tier
Journal: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
Year: 1999
Volume: 61
Issue: 3
Pages: 295-314

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of individual asset holdings on the probability of leaving unemployment. According to the theory, higher levels of financial wealth will result in higher reservation wages and longer unemployment durations. I estimate the impact of financial assets on the hazard rate, using data for Great Britain. The empirical findings indicate that individual asset holdings affect significantly the escape rate out of unemployment. In particular, negative (positive) levels of wealth increase (reduce) the hazard of leaving unemployment. The size of the impact is, however, rather small. Increasing by 100% the level of wealth of a representative individual, with net wealth and other individual characteristics equal to the sample mean, increases the duration of the unemployment spell by half a week.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:3:p:295-314
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29