The paper explains the fall in the NAIRU from more than six pecent in the '80s to below five percent in the '90s. There is a high degree of persistence in unemployment rates across U.S. states over longer time spans. We use cross-sectional and time-series variations in U.S. regional unemployment...

The unemployment rate captures the search behavior of job losers, as well as new entrants or reentrants to the labor force. The behavior of these unemployed groups can display significant differences. This paper extends the Shapiro-Stiglitz model to include an analysis of equilibrium job loss...

In this paper, we investigate the macroeconomic impact on U.S. state economies of differences in the percent of the employed in private sector unions and the percent of the employed in public sector unions. Using annual data from 1983 through 1996 for the 48 contiguous U.S. states, we search for...