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The Demand for Youth: Explaining Age Differences in the Volatility of Hours

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Listed:
  • Nir Jaimovich
  • Seth Pruitt
  • Henry E. Siu

Abstract

Over the business cycle young workers experience much greater volatility of hours worked than prime-aged workers. This can arise from age differences in labor supply or labor demand characteristics. To distinguish between these, we document that, for young workers, both the cyclical volatilities of hours and wages are greater than those of the prime-aged. We argue that a general class of models featuring only age-specific labor supply differences cannot reconcile these facts. We then show that a simple model featuring labor demand differences can.

Suggested Citation

  • Nir Jaimovich & Seth Pruitt & Henry E. Siu, 2013. "The Demand for Youth: Explaining Age Differences in the Volatility of Hours," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 3022-3044, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:7:p:3022-44
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.7.3022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hansen, Gary D., 1985. "Indivisible labor and the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 309-327, November.
    2. Rogerson, Richard & Wallenius, Johanna, 2009. "Micro and macro elasticities in a life cycle model with taxes," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(6), pages 2277-2292, November.
    3. Rogerson, Richard, 1988. "Indivisible labor, lotteries and equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 3-16, January.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jochen Mankart & Rigas Oikonomou, 2017. "Household Search and the Aggregate Labour Market," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(4), pages 1735-1788.
    2. Guisinger, Amy Y., 2020. "Gender differences in the volatility of work hours and labor demand," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Doepke, M. & Tertilt, M., 2016. "Families in Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1789-1891, Elsevier.
    4. Martin Iseringhausen & Hauke Vierke, 2019. "What Drives Output Volatility? The Role of Demographics and Government Size Revisited," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 81(4), pages 849-867, August.
    5. Kathrin Ellieroth, 2019. "Spousal Insurance, Precautionary Labor Supply, and the Business Cycle - A Quantitative Analysis," 2019 Meeting Papers 1134, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Lorenzo Carbonari & Vincenzo Atella & Paola Samà, 2018. "Hours worked in selected OECD countries: an empirical assessment," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 525-545, July.
    7. Gerdie Everaert & Hauke Vierke, 2016. "Demographics and Business Cycle Volatility: A Spurious Relationship?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(7), pages 1467-1477, November.
    8. Michael Olabisi, 2020. "Input–Output Linkages and Sectoral Volatility," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 713-746, July.
    9. Heer, Burkhard & Rohrbacher, Stefan & Scharrer, Christian, 2017. "Aging, The Great Moderation, And Business-Cycle Volatility In A Life-Cycle Model," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 362-383, March.
    10. Dai, Tiantian & Fan, Hua & Liu, Xiangbo & Ma, Chao, 2022. "Delayed retirement policy and unemployment rates," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Nekoei, Arash, 2022. "The measurement of labor supply using March CPS: A cautionary tale," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    12. Jean-Olivier Hairault & François Langot & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2014. "Why is Old Workers’ Labor Market more Volatile? Unemployment Fluctuations over the Life-Cycle," TEPP Working Paper 2014-03, TEPP.
    13. Maya Eden & Paul Gaggl, 2018. "On the Welfare Implications of Automation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 15-43, July.
    14. Henrique S. Basso & Omar Rachedi, 2021. "The Young, the Old, and the Government: Demographics and Fiscal Multipliers," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 110-141, October.
    15. Domenico Ferraro & Giuseppe Fiori, 2020. "The Aging of the Baby Boomers: Demographics and Propagation of Tax Shocks," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 167-193, April.
    16. Sohei Kaihatsu & Maiko Koga & Tomoya Sakata & Naoko Hara, 2019. "Interaction between Business Cycles and Economic Growth," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 37, pages 99-126, November.
    17. Marcos Gómez & Francisco Parro, 2019. "Unintended Displacement Effects of Youth Training Programs in a Directed Search Model," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 230-247, June.
    18. Giacomo Mangiante, 2022. "Demographic Trends and the Transmission of Monetary Policy," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 22.04, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    19. Jedwab,Remi Camille & Pereira,Daniel & Roberts,Mark, 2019. "Cities of Workers, Children, or Seniors? Age Structure and Economic Growth in a Global Cross-Section of Cities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9040, The World Bank.
    20. Laure Simon, 2023. "Fiscal Stimulus and Skill Accumulation over the Life Cycle," Staff Working Papers 23-9, Bank of Canada.
    21. Guy Laroque & Sophie Osotimehin, 2015. "Fluctuations in hours of work and employment across age and gender," IFS Working Papers W15/03, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    22. Kathrin Ellieroth, 2017. "Cyclicality of Hours Worked by Married Women and Spousal Insurance," CAEPR Working Papers 2017-009, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Department of Economics, Indiana University Bloomington.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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