We use a recent policy change in the Netherlands to study how changes in search requirements for the older unemployed affect their transition rates to employment, early retirement and sickness/disability benefits. The reform, becoming effective on January 1st 2004, requires the elderly to...

In this paper, we use a recent policy change in the Netherlands to study how changes in search requirements for the older unemployed affect their transition rates to employment, early retirement and sickness disability benefits. The reform, becoming effective on January 1st, 2004, required the...

Motivated by a household search model, this study analyzes labor market transitions for men and women in couples, distinguishing the states of nonparticipation, unemployed search, and employment. The model allows for household member specific unobserved heterogeneity, correlated across partners....

In this paper, we use a recent policy change in the Netherlands to study how changes in search requirements for the older unemployed affect their transition rates to employment, early retirement and sickness/disability benefits. The reform, becoming effective on January 1st 2004, required the...

Many OECD countries have, or have had, a policy that exempts older unemployed people from the requirement to search for a job. An aging population and low participation by older workers in the labor market increasingly place public finances under strain, and spur calls for policy measures that...