Theoretical models of downward real wage rigidity generate asymmetric wage cyclicality with real wages being rigid in "bad" times but upwardly flexible during "good". In this paper we use an administrative panel dataset from Germany to establish that such asymmetries are very salient in Germany....

Recent dynamic contracting models of downward real wage rigidity with "equal treatment" - newly hired workers cannot price themselves into jobs by undercutting incumbents – imply that real wages are relatively rigid in "bad" times but upwardly flexible during "good" times. We use an...

How do international labor markets respond to a technology shock and what is the main transmission channel across countries with different labor market institutions? To answer these questions, I identify technology shocks using the approach of Galí (1999) and decompose the responses of total...

Using a novel data set, we reassess the evidence for (or against) a key implication of the basic RBC model: that aggregate hours worked respond positively to a positive technology shock. Two novel aspects of the analysis are the scope (14 OECD countries) and the inclusion of data on both labor...

Can the standard search-and-matching labor market model replicate the business cycle fluctuations of the job finding rate and the unemployment rate? In the odel, these fluctuations are driven by movements in productivity. This paper inestigates the sources of productivity fluctuations that are...

This paper develops a 9-dimensional SVAR to investigate the sources of the U.S. business cycle. We extend the standard set of identified shocks to include unexpected changes in commodity prices. Our main result is that commodity price shocks are a very important driving force of macroeconomic...