In the U.S. labor maarket, the vacancy-unemployment ratio and unemployment react sluggishly to productivity shocks. We show that the job matching model in its standard form cannot reproduce these patterns due to excessively rapid vacancy responses. Extending the model to incorprate sunk costs...

This paper assesses how various approaches to modelling the separation margin a¤ect the ability of the Mortensen-Pissarides job matching model to explain key facts about the aggregate labor market. Allowing for realistic time variation in the separation rate, whether exogenous or endogenous,...

Many developed countries have suffered from high unemployment rates during the last few decades. Beyond the economic and social consequences of this painful experience, the understanding of the mechanisms underlying unemployment still constitutes an important challenge. Focusing on one of its...

Previous estimates of the effect of unemployment on crime commonly omit determinants of criminal behavior that vary with the business cycle, creating correlation between unemployment rates and the residuals in aggregate crime regressions. In this paper, we employ several strategies that attempt...

This paper explains the divergent behavior of European and US unemployment rates using a job market model of the labor market with an interaction between shocks and institutions. It shows that a reduction in TFP growth rates, an increase in real interest rates, and an increase in tax rates leads...