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The Great U.K. Depression: A Puzzle and Possible Resolution

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Author Info
Harold L. Cole (University of California, Los Angeles)
Lee E. Ohanian (University of California, Los Angeles)

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Abstract

The UK was depressed for 20 years between the two World Wars. The decrease in output was entirely due to lower hours per worker and lower employment. Our main finding is that generous unemployment benefits, in conjunction with large negative sectoral shocks, is the most plausible candidate explanation for this depression. We also find that the conventional Keynesian monetary story for this period is unconvincing. (Copyright: Elsevier)

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File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/redy.2001.0140
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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics in its journal Review of Economic Dynamics.

Volume (Year): 5 (2002)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 19-44
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Handle: RePEc:red:issued:v:5:y:2002:i:1:p:19-44

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Related research
Keywords: unemployment benefits; sectoral shocks; workweek restriction;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Eichengreen, Barry, 1987. "Unemployment in Interwar Britain: Dole or Doldrums?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 597-623, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2001. "The great U.K. depression: a puzzle and possible resolution," Staff Report 295, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Maki, Dennis R & Spindler, Zane A, 1975. "The Effect of Unemployment Compensation on the Rate of Unemployment in Great Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 440-54, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Hansen, Gary D., 1985. "Indivisible labor and the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 309-327, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2000. "Re-examining the contributions of money and banking shocks to the U.S. Great Depression," Staff Report 270, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Metcalf, David & Nickell, Stephen J & Floros, Nicos, 1982. "Still Searching for an Explanation of Unemployment in Interwar Britain," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(2), pages 386-99, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Benjamin, Daniel K & Kochin, Levis A, 1979. "Searching for an Explanation of Unemployment in Interwar Britain," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(3), pages 441-78, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Cogan, John F, 1981. "Fixed Costs and Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 945-63, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Lars Ljungqvist & Thomas J. Sargent, 1998. "The European Unemployment Dilemma," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(3), pages 514-550, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2001. "New Deal policies and the persistence of the Great Depression: a general equilibrium analysis," Working Papers 597, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Rogerson, Richard, 1988. "Indivisible labor, lotteries and equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 3-16, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 1999. "The Great Depression in the United States from a neoclassical perspective," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win, pages 2-24. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Prescott, Edward & Shell, Karl, 2002. "Introduction to Sunspots and Lotteries," Working Papers 02-08, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Michele Boldrin & David K Levine, 2007. "All the Interesting Questions, Almost All the Wrong Reasons," Levine's Working Paper Archive 784828000000000706, David K. Levine. [Downloadable!]
  3. Kaiji Chen & Ayşe İmrohoroğlu & Selahattin İmrohoroğlu, 2007. "The Japanese saving rate between 1960 and 2000: productivity, policy changes, and demographics," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 87-104, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Timothy J Kehoe & Kim J. Ruhl, 2003. "Recent Great Depressions: Aggregate Growth in New Zealand and Switzerland," Levine's Bibliography 506439000000000529, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2002. "The Great U.K. Depression: A Puzzle and Possible Resolution," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(1), pages 19-44, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Monique Ebell & Albrecht Ritschl, 2007. "Real Origins of the Great Depression: Monopolistic Competition, Union Power, and the American Business Cycle in the 1920s," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2007-006, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Monique Ebell & Albrecht Ritschl, 2008. "Real Origins of the Great Depression: Monopoly Power, Unions and the American Business Cycle in the 1920s," CEP Discussion Papers dp0876, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  8. Lee E. Ohanian, 2008. "Back to the future with Keynes," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Jul, pages 10-16. [Downloadable!]
  9. Keisuke Otsu, 2007. "A Neoclassical Analysis of the Asian Crisis: Business Cycle Accounting of a Small Open Economy," IMES Discussion Paper Series 07-E-16, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan. [Downloadable!]
  10. Luca, PENSIEROSO, 2005. "Real Business Cycle Models of the Great Depression : a Critical Survey," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2005005, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Kaiji Chen & Ayse Imrohoroglu & Selo Imrohoroglu, 2005. "Japanese Saving Rate," Macroeconomics 0502017, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Kaiji Chen & Ayse Imrohoroglu & Selahattin Imrohoroglu, 2006. "Secular Trends in U.S Saving and Consumption," Computing in Economics and Finance 2006 494, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Alexander Ueberfeldt, 2006. "Working Time over the 20th Century," Working Papers 06-18, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
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