"Data for OECD countries document: 1. imports and exports are about three times as volatile as GDP; 2. imports and exports are pro-cyclical, and positively correlated with each other; 3. net exports are counter-cyclical. Standard models fail to replicate the behavior of imports and exports,...

This paper studies how the elasticity of intertemporal substitution (EIS) influences labor market fluctuations in the labor search and matching model with both extensive and intensive margins of labor supply. With the curvature of utility, the countercyclical marginal utility of consumption...