The unhappily unemployed return to work faster

Abstract

This paper shows that job loss is associated with a fall in subjective well-being (SWB). It then looks at how this change in SWB predicts job search and unemployment duration. The findings suggest that those who report feeling hurt by unemployment have shorter unemployment durations. Men who report a loss of SWB are also more likely to look for a job, but women's job search is not affected by the SWB loss. These findings confirm the theoretical prediction from job search theory: search effort and unemployment duration are affected by the utility differential between having a job and being unemployed. JEL codes: J64; J28

Application of correspondence analysis to the identification of the influence of features of unemployed persons on the unemployment duration

“…The regional differences in unemployment duration and the influence of business cycles and professional activation programmes could be also examined. Previous analyses confirm strong influence of place of living on unemployment duration [Rotaru 2014;Mavridis 2015].…”

“…In the case of the influence of sex on unemployment duration quite often it is stated that men have greater chances of getting work [Stetsenko 2003;Daras and Jerzak 2005, BAEL, 1993. Some authors found that women have higher chances of getting work [Bieszk-Stolorz and Markowicz 2011;Grogan and van den Berg 2001;Mavridis 2015;Landmesser 2013]. Quite rarely results confirming no influence of sex on unemployment duration are presented [Grzenda 2012, data: Budgets of Households, 2008.…”

“…Analyses of the influence of the level of discomfort on account of work loss on unemployment duration are relatively rarely conducted. This subject was examined by Mavridis [2015]. He argues that a higher level of discomfort causes a shortening of the unemployment duration.…”

“…The problem of the intensity of seeking work is more rarely analysed [Taşçı 2008]. Most results of the analyses shows that a higher level of education shortens the duration of unemployment [Kupets 2006, data: Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, 1998Bieszk-Stolorz and Markowicz 2011, data: Local Labour Office Szczecin 2011, survival analysis for censored data, Kaplan-Meier estimator, Cox regression; Grogan and van den Berg 2001, data: Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, 1994-1996Mavridis 2015, data: British Household Panel Survey, 1991, survival functions, Kaplan-Meier estimator, Cox proportional hazard model]. The same conclusion could be found in Kerckhofes, de Neubourg, and Palm [1994]; Ahn, de la Rica, and Ugidos [1999]; Daras and Jerzak [2005]; Carroll [2006]; Grzenda [2012]; Sasaki, Kohara, and Machikita [2013]; Kołodziejczak and Wysocki [2013]; Rotaru [2014].…”

SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being

“…Clark (2003a) also uses BHPS data to show that the size of the drop in GHQ upon entering unemployment predicts how much the individual searches for a new job, and how fast they leave unemployment: those who suffered the largest well-being drop search more and leave the fastest. This result has been updated by Mavridis (2015), and replicated using data on life satisfaction in SOEP data by .…”