The original Mortensen-Pissarides model possesses two elements that are absent from the commonly used simplified version: the job destruction margin and training costs. I find that these two elements enable a model driven only by productivity shocks to simultaneously explain most of the...

Abstract Latin America has had striking changes in economic performance over time. None more striking than consumption. Consumption per-capita in the year 2004 was roughly the same as it was in 1980. Latin America is also an open economic region, with several international debt crises. This...