Unemployment compensation and unemployment duration : evidence from the German Hartz IV reform ; conference paper

In 2005, the unemployment compensation for long-term unemployed was reduced in Germany. We examine how this reform affected the transition probability to employment. Additionally, we inspect how this effect varies over unemployment duration. We estimate proportional hazard models using German administrative spell data. According to our results the reform has raised the transition probability of short-term unemployed. The effect is even higher, the longer the unemployment duration. However, the results for long-term unemployed are inconclusive.