DURATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN SPAIN - RELATIVE EFFECTS OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT AND FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS

We estimate the effects of unemployment benefit and family situation o n the unemployment duration in Spain. Empirical results indicate that the distinctions between the exits into employment and the exits from the labour force and between men and women are important. Although une mployment benefit reduces significantly the job-finding probabilities, its effects are much larger on exits from the labour force. Many peop le who decide to go out of the labour force delay their exits until th ey exhaust their unemployment benefits. Family situation also has stro ng effects on the duration of unemployment in Spain. Household heads h ave about twice larger job-finding probability than non-heads, and hav ing a working household head or other working household members improv es employment probability. This suggests that family connections in th e labour market are important determinants of unemployment duration in Spain.