We show that European-style hysteresis can arise in a normative model where labor market institutions are determined optimally. We focus on the government's decision to set unemployment benefits in response to an unemployment shock. The government balances insurance considerations with the tax...

We show how the differences in US and European institutions can arise in a normative model. The paper focuses on the labor market and the government's decision to set unemployment benefits in response to an unemployment shock. The government balances insurance considerations with the tax burden...

A large literature in macroeconomics assumes a social objective function, W(p, U), where inflation, p, and unemployment, U, are bads. This paper provides some of the first formal evidence for such an approach. It uses data on the reported well-being levels of approximately one quarter of a...