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Beveridge Curve Shifts across Countries since the Great Recession

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Abstract

We discuss the magnitude of and reasons for the shift in the Beveridge curve in the U.S. since the Great Recession and argue that skill mismatch and the extension of unemployment insurance benefits likely have played a nontrivial role in this shift. We then introduce a method to estimate fitted Beveridge curves for other OECD countries for which data on vacancies and employment by job tenure are available. We show that Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. also experienced rightward shifts in their Beveridge curves. We argue that the shift in the first three countries is due to similar mismatch factors as in the U.S. while the shift in Sweden is due to labor market reforms passed right before the Great Recession.

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  • Bart Hobijn & Ayşegül Şahin, 2012. "Beveridge Curve Shifts across Countries since the Great Recession," Working Paper Series 2012-24, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2012-24
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    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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