Beschäftigung und Arbeitslosigkeit älterer Arbeitnehmer: Eine mikroökonometrische Evaluation der Arbeitslosengeldreform von 1997

In 1997, the German government enacted a reform of the unemployment insurance system which lead to a reduction of the maximum entitlement length for unemployment benefits. The paper analyses the effects of this reform on the risk of unemployment and on unemployment duration of the older unemployed aged 54-56. This group lost a smooth early retirement path via the unemployment benefits scheme. We show that the reform effectively reduced the amount of early retirement at the expense of the unemployment insurance. In particular larger companies and their employees use extended entitlement periods for unemployment benefits for early retirement purposes.

Müller, Eva, Ralf Wilke and Philipp Zahn (2006), Beschäftigung und Arbeitslosigkeit älterer Arbeitnehmer: Eine mikroökonometrische Evaluation der Arbeitslosengeldreform von 1997, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 06-021, Mannheim.