Can the Mortensen-Pissarides Matching Model Match the Business-Cycle Facts?

We examine whether the Mortensen-Pissarides matching model can account for the business-cycle facts on employment, job creation, and job destruction. A novel feature of our analysis is its emphasis on the reduced-form implications of the matching model. Our main finding is that the model can account for the business-cycle facts, but only if the average duration of a nonemployment spell is relatively high-about 9 months or longer. Copyright 1999 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.