scholarly journals Labor market frictions and the international propagation mechanism

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Patureau
10.3982/qe916 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 803-852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. L. Elsby ◽  
Ryan Michaels ◽  
David Ratner

Labor market frictions are able to induce sluggish aggregate employment dynamics. However, these frictions have strong implications for the source of this propagation: they distort the path of aggregate employment by impeding the flow of labor across firms. For a canonical class of frictions, we show how observable measures of such flows can be used to assess the effect of frictions on aggregate employment dynamics. Application of this approach to establishment microdata for the United States reveals that the empirical flow of labor across firms deviates markedly from the predictions of canonical labor market frictions. Despite their ability to induce persistence in aggregate employment, firm‐size flows in these models are predicted to respond aggressively to aggregate shocks, but react sluggishly in the data. The paper therefore concludes that the propagation mechanism embodied in standard models of labor market frictions fails to account for the sources of observed employment dynamics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 2869-2921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Carrère ◽  
Anja Grujovic ◽  
Frédéric Robert-Nicoud

Abstract We develop a multicountry, multisector trade model featuring risk-averse workers, labor market frictions, unemployment benefits, and equilibrium unemployment. Trade opening leads to a reduction in unemployment when it simultaneously raises welfare and reallocates labor toward sectors with lower-than-average labor market frictions. We then estimate and calibrate the model using employment data from 31 OECD countries and worldwide trade data. Finally, we quantify the potential unemployment, real wage, and welfare effects of repealing NAFTA and raising bilateral tariffs between the United States and Mexico to 20%. This policy would increase unemployment by 2.4% in the United States and 48% in Mexico.


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