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U.S. Labor Market Dynamics Revisited

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Author Info
Eran Yashiv () (Tel Aviv University, CEPR and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

The picture of U.S. labor market dynamics is opaque. Empirical studies of U.S. gross worker flows have yielded contradictory findings, and it is not easy to get a sense of the key moments of the data. Debates have emerged regarding the implications of these flows for the understanding of the business cycle. The early view was that worker separations from jobs are the more dominant cyclical phenomenon (relative to the hirings of workers), and that therefore it is important to analyze the causes for separations or job destruction. Later, this view was challenged by the claim that separations are roughly constant over the cycle, and that the key to the understanding of the business cycle is in the cyclical behavior of the job finding rate. This paper aims at clarifying the picture, trying to determine what facts can be established, what are their implications for the business cycle, and what remains to be further investigated. The main findings are: (i) There is considerable cyclicality and volatility of both accessions and separations. Hence, both are important for the understanding the business cycle. The paper delineates the key business cycle facts of the labor market. (ii) The major remaining problems, in need of further study, are the disparities in the measurement of flows between employment and the pool of workers out of the labor force, disagreements on the relative volatility of job finding and separation rates across data sets, and the fact that the fit of the gross flows data with net employment growth data differs across studies and is not high.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2455.

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Length: 61 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2455

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Related research
Keywords: gross worker flows; labor market dynamics; job finding rate; separation rate; business cycle facts;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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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.:
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  3. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1995. "Measuring Gross Worker and Job Flows," NBER Working Papers 5133, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Mortensen, Dale T & Pissarides, Christopher A, 1994. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 61(3), pages 397-415, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Pissarides, Christopher A, 1985. "Short-run Equilibrium Dynamics of Unemployment Vacancies, and Real Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 676-90, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Stephen R. G. Jones & Craig Riddell, 2000. "The Dynamics of US Labor Force Attachment," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0011, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  8. Joseph A. Ritter, 1993. "Measuring labor market dynamics: gross flows of workers and jobs," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Nov, pages 39-57. [Downloadable!]
  9. Oliver Jean Blanchard & Peter Diamond, 1989. "The Beveridge Curve," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 20(1989-1), pages 1-76. [Downloadable!]
  10. Robert Shimer, 2007. "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 13421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Steven J. Davis & R. Jason Faberman & John Haltiwanger, 2006. "The Flow Approach to Labor Markets: New Data Sources and Micro-Macro Links," NBER Working Papers 12167, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Poterba, James M & Summers, Lawrence H, 1986. "Reporting Errors and Labor Market Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(6), pages 1319-38, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Stephen R.G. Jones & W. Craig Riddell, 2002. "Unemployment and Non-Employment: Heterogeneities in Labour Market States," Department of Economics Working Papers 2002-05, McMaster University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. John Haltiwanger & Marilyn E. Manser & Robert Topel, 1998. "Labor Statistics Measurement Issues," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number halt98-1.
  15. Hoyt Bleakley & Ann E. Ferris & Jeffrey C. Fuhrer, 1999. "New data on worker flows during business cycles," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Jul, pages 49-76. [Downloadable!]
  16. Davis, Steven J. & Haltiwanger, John, 1999. "Gross job flows," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 41, pages 2711-2805 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman, 2004. "Employer-to-employer flows in the U.S. labor market: the complete picture of gross worker flows," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2004-34, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [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. Jean-Baptiste Michau, 2007. "Creative Destruction with On-the-Job Search," CEP Discussion Papers dp0835, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  2. Petrongolo, Barbara & Pissarides, Christopher, 2008. "The Ins and Outs of European Unemployment," CEPR Discussion Papers 6681, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Michael U. Krause & Thomas A. Lubik & David López-Salido, 2008. "Inflation dynamics with search frictions : a structural econometric analysis," Working Paper 08-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Kevin D. Sheedy, 2007. "Intrinsic Inflation Persistence," CEP Discussion Papers dp0837, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  5. Richard E. Baldwin & Frédéric Robert-Nicoud, 2008. "A Simple Model of the Juggernaut Effect of Trade Liberalisation," CEP Discussion Papers dp0845, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Kevin D. Sheedy, 2007. "Inflation Persistence When Price Stickiness Differs Between Industries," CEP Discussion Papers dp0838, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  7. Ronald Bachmann & Peggy David, 2009. "The Importance of Two-Sided Heterogeneity for the Cyclicality of Labour Market Dynamics," Ruhr Economic Papers 0124, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Sandra Schaffner, 2009. "Heterogeneity in the Cyclical Sensitivity of Job-to-Job Flows," Ruhr Economic Papers 0118, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]
  9. Shigeru Fujita, 2009. "Dynamics of worker flows and vacancies: evidence from the sign restriction approach," Working Papers 07-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
  10. Michael W. Elsby & Ryan Michaels & Gary Solon, 2007. "The Ins and Outs of Cyclical Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 12853, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Andrew E. Clark & Ed Diener & Yannis Georgellis & Richard E. Lucas, 2007. "Lags and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis," CEP Discussion Papers dp0836, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Shigeru Fujita & Christopher J. Nekarda & Garey Ramey, 2007. "The cyclicality of worker flows: new evidence from the SIPP," Working Papers 07-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
  13. Strawinski, Pawel, 2008. "What drives the Unemployment Rate in Poland," MPRA Paper 11372, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  14. Andreas Georgiadis, 2008. "Efficiency Wages and the Economic Effects of the Minimum Wage: Evidence from a Low-Wage Labour Market," CEP Discussion Papers dp0857, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  15. Michael U. Krause & David J. Lopez-Salido & Thomas Lubik, 2007. "Do Search Frictions Matter for Inflation Dynamics?," Kiel Working Papers 1353, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Espen R. Moen & A Rosen, 2007. "Incentives in Competitive Search Equilibrium," CEP Discussion Papers dp0832, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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