The aim of this paper is to analyze and estimate salient characteristics of unemployment dynamics. Movements in … unemployment are viewed as "chain reactions" of responses to labor market shocks, working their way through systems of interacting … aggregate measures of unemployment responses to temporary and permanent shocks. These measures are temporal (depicting how long …

This paper challenges what is the standard account of UK unemployment, namely that the major swings in unemployment … unemployment are due, instead, to very prolonged after-effects of persistent (transitory but long-lasting) shocks. We argue that (a …) past UK labour market shocks have prolonged after-effects on unemployment due to interactions among different lagged …

This paper explores the optimal design of subsidies for hiring unemployed workers (?employment vouchers? for short) in … employment and unemployment, the analysis shows how the optimal policy depends on the rates of hiring and firing, and on the … unemployment benefits in optimal policy design. We calibrate the model and evaluate the effectiveness of employment vouchers in …

The analysis provides a new explanation for two widespread problems concerning European unemployment policy: the … disappointingly small effect of many past reform measures on unemployment, and the political difficulties in implementing more … implement broad-based reform strategies. Our analysis suggests that major unemployment policies are characterised by economic …