How Do Layoff Costs Affect Employment? General equilibrium analyses of layoff costs have had mixed messages on the implications for employment. This paper brings out the economic forces at work and explains the disparate results. Specifically, we show that positive employment effects of layoff costs come through reducing labor reallocation, whereas negative effects come through reducing the pri...

More on Unemployment and Vacancy Fluctuations Shimer (2005a) argues that the Mortensen-Pissarides equilibrium search model of unemployment grossly under predicts the size of the response in the job finding rate to a productivity shock. Some of the recent papers inspired by his critique are reviewed and commented on here. Specifically, I suggest that the problem is not procyclicality of the wage...

Using administrative panel data on the entire Danish population we document a new set of facts characterizing occupational mobility. For most occupations, mobility is U-shaped and directional: not only low but also high wage earners within an occupation have a particularly large probability of leaving their occupation, and the low (high) earners tend to switch to new occupations with lower (hig...

The Effect of Weather-Induced Internal Migration on Local Labor Markets: Evidence from Uganda Relying on census data collected in 2002 and historical weather data for Uganda, we estimate the impact of weather-induced internal migration on the probability for non-migrants living in the destination regions to be employed. Our results reveal a significant negative impact. Consistent with the predi...

A new test for hysteresis based on a nonlinear unobserved components model is proposed. Observed unemployment rates are decomposed into a natural rate component and a cyclical component. Threshold type nonlinearities are introduced by allowing past cyclical unemployment to have a different impact on the natural rate depending on the regime of the economy. The impact of lagged cyclical shocks on...

Gross Job Flows in Russian Industry Before and After Reforms: Has Destruction Become More Creative This paper uses 1985-1999 manufacturing census data for old Russian enterprises to calculate the magnitude and productivity effects of gross job flow rates before and after reforms. Job creation was low throughout the period in this sector, but increased slightly during the transition, while job d...

Equilibrium Unemployment with Outsourcing and Wage Solidarity Under Labour Market Imperfections We evaluate the effects of outsourcing and wage solidarity on wage formation and equilibrium unemployment in a heterogeneous labour market, where wages are determined by a monopoly labour union. We find that outsourcing promotes the wage dispersion between the high-skilled and low-skilled workers. Wh...

In many search models of the labor market, unemployment insurance (UI) is conveniently interpreted as the value of leisure or home production and is, therefore, treated as a parameter. However, in reality, UI has to be funded through taxation that might be distortionary. In this paper, I analyze the welfare implications of raising funds towards UI benefits through different taxation systems wit...

Article history: Received 2 July 2012 Received in revised form 7 November 2013 Accepted 7 November 2013 Available online 22 November 2013 This paper proposes a simple multi-industry trade model with search frictions in the labor market. Unimpeded access to global financial markets enables capital owners to invest abroad, thereby fostering unemployment at the extensive industry margin. Whether a...

Beyond the Labour Income Tax Wedge: The Unemployment-Reducing Effect of Tax Progressivity In this paper we argue that, for a given overall level of labour income taxation, a more progressive tax schedule increases employment. From a theoretical point of view, higher progressivity increases overall employment through a wage moderating effect and also because employment of low-paid workers is mor...