Labor Markets and Business Cycles

Labor Markets and Business Cycles
Author: Robert Shimer
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2010-04-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1400835232

Labor Markets and Business Cycles integrates search and matching theory with the neoclassical growth model to better understand labor market outcomes. Robert Shimer shows analytically and quantitatively that rigid wages are important for explaining the volatile behavior of the unemployment rate in business cycles. The book focuses on the labor wedge that arises when the marginal rate of substitution between consumption and leisure does not equal the marginal product of labor. According to competitive models of the labor market, the labor wedge should be constant and equal to the labor income tax rate. But in U.S. data, the wedge is strongly countercyclical, making it seem as if recessions are periods when workers are dissuaded from working and firms are dissuaded from hiring because of an increase in the labor income tax rate. When job searches are time consuming and wages are flexible, search frictions--the cost of a job search--act like labor adjustment costs, further exacerbating inconsistencies between the competitive model and data. The book shows that wage rigidities can reconcile the search model with the data, providing a quantitatively more accurate depiction of labor markets, consumption, and investment dynamics. Developing detailed search and matching models, Labor Markets and Business Cycles will be the main reference for those interested in the intersection of labor market dynamics and business cycle research.

Handbook of Labor Economics

Handbook of Labor Economics
Author: Orley Ashenfelter
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 800
Release: 1999-11-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780444501899

A guide to the continually evolving field of labour economics.

Labor, Credit, and Goods Markets

Labor, Credit, and Goods Markets
Author: Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2017-11-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0262036452

An integrated framework to study the theoretical and quantitative properties of economies with frictions in labor, financial, and goods markets. This book offers an integrated framework to study the theoretical and quantitative properties of economies with frictions in multiple markets. Building on analyses of markets with frictions by 2010 Nobel laureates Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen, and Christopher A. Pissarides, which provided a new theoretical approach to search markets, the book applies this new paradigm to labor, finance, and goods markets. It shows, in particular, how frictions in different markets interact with each other. The book first covers the main developments in the analysis of the labor market in the presence of frictions, offering a systematic analysis of the dynamics of this environment and explaining the notion of macroeconomic volatility. Then, building on the generality and simplicity of the search analysis, the book adapts it to other markets, developing the tools and concepts to analyze friction in these markets. The book goes beyond the traditional general equilibrium analysis of markets, which is often frictionless. It begins with the standard analysis of a single market, and then sequentially integrates more markets into the analysis, progressing from labor to financial to goods markets. Along the way, the book provides a number of useful results and insights, including the existence of a direct link between search frictions and the degree of volatility in the economy.

Selected Works of Joseph E. Stiglitz

Selected Works of Joseph E. Stiglitz
Author: Joseph E. Stiglitz
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 768
Release: 2008-12-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 019155992X

This is the first volume in a new, definitive, six-volume edition of the works of Joseph Stiglitz, one of today's most distinguished and controversial economists. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for his work on asymmetric information and is widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the field of modern information economics and more generally for his contributions to microeconomics. Volume I includes a number of classic papers which helped to form the foundations for the field of the economics of information. Stiglitz reflects on his work and the field more generally throughout the volume by including substantial original introductions to the Selected Works, the volume as a whole, and each part within the volume. The volume includes a number of foundational papers, specifically looking at market equilibrium with adverse selection, moral hazard, and screening. This volume sets out the basic concepts underlying the economics of information, while volume II goes a step further by applying and extending these concepts in a number of different settings in labour, capital, and product markets.

NLS Update

NLS Update
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 60
Release: 1993
Genre: Labor supply
ISBN:

Health, Safety and Well-Being of Workers in the Informal Sector in India

Health, Safety and Well-Being of Workers in the Informal Sector in India
Author: Sigamani Panneer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2019-07-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9811384215

This book focuses on the core problems of occupational health, safety and well-being of workers in the informal sector in developing countries, where it accounts for most of the rural labour force and a substantial percentage of the urban labour force. The sector is characterised by low incomes, unstable employment and lack of protection in the form of legislation/policies or trade unions. Though some health and problem-solving measures have been introduced, a focused academic effort to address the problems confronting workers in the unorganised sector, or informal economy, is lacking. The book evaluates workers’ physical and mental health in the context of labour migration, social inclusion of minorities and the differently abled, provisions for women workers, demonetisation, occupational safety for hazardous work, and in connection with various areas of informal work, e.g. agriculture, construction, transportation, sanitation, tanning, the tobacco industry, powerloom industry, surrogacy, and self-employment. It provides a well-rounded description of an analytical reflection on the challenges these workers face and focuses on social policy changes to help alleviate them. Accordingly, it offers a valuable asset for researchers and students interested in development studies, the sociology of work, health and labour economics, public health, and social work.

Hysteresis and Business Cycles

Hysteresis and Business Cycles
Author: Ms.Valerie Cerra
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2020-05-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1513536990

Traditionally, economic growth and business cycles have been treated independently. However, the dependence of GDP levels on its history of shocks, what economists refer to as “hysteresis,” argues for unifying the analysis of growth and cycles. In this paper, we review the recent empirical and theoretical literature that motivate this paradigm shift. The renewed interest in hysteresis has been sparked by the persistence of the Global Financial Crisis and fears of a slow recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The findings of the recent literature have far-reaching conceptual and policy implications. In recessions, monetary and fiscal policies need to be more active to avoid the permanent scars of a downturn. And in good times, running a high-pressure economy could have permanent positive effects.