Unhappiness and Job Finding

34 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2012

See all articles by Anne C. Gielen

Anne C. Gielen

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Jan C. van Ours

Tilburg University - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Department of Economics

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Date Written: April 27, 2012

Abstract

It is puzzling that people feel quite unhappy when they become unemployed, while at the same time active labor market policies are needed to bring unemployed back to work more quickly. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we investigate whether there is indeed such a puzzle. First, we find that nearly half of the unemployed do not experience a drop in happiness, which might explain why at least some workers need to be activated. In addition to that, we find that even though unemployed who experience a drop in happiness search more actively for a job, it does not speed up their job finding. Apparently, there is no link between unhappiness and the speed of job finding. Hence, there is no contradiction between unemployed being unhappy and the need for activation policies.

Keywords: Happiness, Unemployment duration

JEL Classification: I31, J64

Suggested Citation

Gielen, Anne C. and van Ours, Jan C., Unhappiness and Job Finding (April 27, 2012). DIW Berlin SOEPpapers No. 437, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2046933 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2046933

Anne C. Gielen

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

Jan C. Van Ours (Contact Author)

Tilburg University - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 466 2880 (Phone)
+31 13 466 3042 (Fax)

University of Melbourne - Department of Economics ( email )

Melbourne, 3010
Australia

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