In this paper we consider a risk averse worker who is moving back and forth between employment and unemployment; layoffs are random and beyond the worker s influence, while the re-employment chance is directly affected by search effort. We characterize the worker s optimal savings and job-search...

This paper analyzes the determinants of lay-offs, job-to-job movements and totalseparations with a unique data set that combines information on individual firmsand their workers. We are in particular interested in whether the lay-offpolicy of firms can explain the relatively high level of...

We introduce and apply a method for estimating workers' marginal willingness to pay for job attributes employing data on job search activity. Worker's willingness to pay for the remaining duration of the employment contract is derived. We provide evidence that workers attach substantial value to...

During the Great Recession of 2007, unemployment reached nearly 10 percent and the ratio of unemployment to open positions (as measured by the Help Wanted OnLine Index) more than tripled. The weak labor market prompted an unprecedented extension in the length of time in which a claimant can...

This paper surveys the existing empirical research that uses search theory to empirically analyze labor supply questions in a structural framework, using data on individual labor market transitions and durations, wages, and individual characteristics. The starting points of the literature are...

We build and analyze a new U.S. database that links 125 million applications to job vacancies and employer-side clients on Dice.com, an online platform for jobs and workers in software design, computer systems, engineering, financial analysis, management consulting, and other occupations that...

In this paper we theoretically and empirically analyze equilibrium search models of the labor market. The Burdett-Mortensen equilibrium search model is generalized by allowing for continuous distributions of firm productivity types within a given labor market. We characterize equilibrium and...

Can increasing returns to scale in search explain regional differentiation between cities and rural areas? To answer this question, we develop a model of an economy that consists of several regions. Within each region, jobs and workers are heterogeneous by respectively skill and job complexity...