"This paper proposes a methodology for estimating job search models that does not require either functional form assumptions or ruling out the presence of unobserved variation in worker ability. In particular, building on existing results from record- value theory, a branch of statistics that...

"Data from the NLSY show that more than a quarter of all younger men experience some period of self-employment. Many of them return to wage work. This paper analyzes a simple model of job search and self-employment where self-employment provides an alternative source of income for unemployed...

We use data from the Survey of Consumer Finance and Survey of Income Program Participation to show that young households with children are under-insured against the risk that an adult member of the household dies. We develop a tractable macroeconomic model with human capital risk, age-dependent...