The theory of stationary job search predicts that, controlling for other factors that affect the probability of leaving unemployment, duration and reservation wages are likely to be positively associated. The paper tests this prediction for British cross-sectional data from 1982 using an estimating equation implied by search theory. Simultaneity is crucial in the evaluation of this prediction, with single-equation and instrumental-variable estimates differing markedly. Perhaps surprisingly, given the extreme paucity of both job interviews and offers in the sample, the main finding is that reservation wages play a significant role in the determination of duration.

We analyze changes in unemployment, marginal labor force attachment, and participation in Canada and the United States using consistent measurement concepts. We show the importance for the comparative evolution of aggregate unemployment of changes in the fraction of those “wanting work”—the unemployed and marginally attached. We also study changes in the fraction of the nonemployed who are unemployed. Using micro data on labor market transition behavior at these margins, we find remarkably consistent results in the two countries, with the marginally attached displaying behavior lying between unemployment and nonattachment. The three nonemployment states are distinct in both countries.

The determination of how to distinguish between unemployment and nonparticipation is important and controversial. The conventional approach employs a priori reasoning together with self-reported current behavior. This paper employs an evidence-based classification of labor force status using information about the consequences of the behavior of the nonemployed. We find that marginal attachment—defined as desiring work, although not searching—is a distinct labor market state, lying between those who do not desire work and the unemployed. Furthermore, important heterogeneities exist within these nonemployment states. Two subsets of nonparticipants—both engaged in waiting—display behavior similar to the unemployed.