To generate persistence we augment the standard real business cycle (RBC) model with a ``learning by doing'' (LBD) mechanism, where current labor supply affects workers' future labor productivity. Our econometric analysis shows that the LBD model fits aggregate data much better than the standard...

We decompose underlying disturbances in total hours into three kinds: disturbances that shift the steady-state level of hours, those that change the sectoral composition of employment in the long-run, and those that cause temporary movement of hours around the steady-state. Our identifying...