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A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Evidence from a Monte Carlo Experiment: Reply

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  • Russell Cooper
  • Jonathan L. Willis

Abstract

This note responds to Christian Bayer (2009). Cooper and Willis (2004), hereafter CW, find the aggregate nonlinearities reported in Ricardo Caballero and Eduardo Engel (1993) and Caballero, Engel, and John Haltiwanger (1997) reflect mismeasurement of the employment gap, not nonlinearities in plant-level adjustment. Bayer concludes the CW result is not robust to alternative aggregate shock processes. We concur, but argue that the nonlinearity created by mismeasurement does not disappear. Instead, it is directly related to the level of the aggregate shock. The CW findings are robust for the natural case of unobserved gaps. (JEL E24, J23)

Suggested Citation

  • Russell Cooper & Jonathan L. Willis, 2009. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Evidence from a Monte Carlo Experiment: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2267-2276, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:99:y:2009:i:5:p:2267-76
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.5.2267
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Russell Cooper & Jonathan L. Willis, 2004. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Rejoinder," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1245-1247, September.
    2. Russell Cooper & Jonathan Willis, 2009. "The Cost of Labor Adjustment: Inferences from the Gap," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(4), pages 632-647, October.
    3. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M. R. A. Engel, 1993. "Microeconomic Adjustment Hazards and Aggregate Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 359-383.
    4. Caballero, Ricardo J & Engel, Eduardo M R A & Haltiwanger, John, 1997. "Aggregate Employment Dynamics: Building from Microeconomic Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 115-137, March.
    5. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M.R.A. Engel, 2004. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1238-1244, September.
    6. Jerome Adda & Russell W. Cooper, 2003. "Dynamic Economics: Quantitative Methods and Applications," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262012014, December.
    7. Christian Bayer, 2009. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Evidence from a Monte Carlo Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2258-2266, December.
    8. Russell W. Cooper & Jonathan L. Willis, 2009. "Mind the (approximation) gap: a robustness analysis," Research Working Paper RWP 09-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    9. Russell Cooper & Jonathan L. Willis, 2004. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1223-1237, September.
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    1. Christian Bayer, 2009. "A Comment on the Economics of Labor Adjustment: Mind the Gap: Evidence from a Monte Carlo Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2258-2266, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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