Economic growth and unemployment exhibit an ambiguous relationship – according to empirical studies. This ambiguity can be investigated by observing the role of the underground economy in shaping the productivity of firms. Indeed, unemployment may be absorbed by underground firms, which adopt...

This paper develops a labour market matching model in order to address the problem of the persistence of the hidden sector and of its regional concentration, as in Italy and in the enlarged Europe. The main novel features of the model are that entrepreneurial ability affects job productivity,...

A matching model will explain both unemployment and economic growth by considering the underground sector. Three problems can thus be simultaneously accounted for: (i) the persistence of underground economy, (ii) the ambiguous relationships between underground employment and unemployment, and...

The proposed theoretical work introduces the basic insights of the ‘slippery slope’ framework into the benchmark macroeconomic model of the labour market in order to study the relation between tax compliance (both voluntary and enforced), tax evasion and unemployment. This paper shows that...

In light of the recent and growing literature which has extended the use of search and matching models even to the housing market, this paper introduces dynamic analysis to a simple stationary state equilibrium model. Contrary to what occurs in the labour market, the dynamic adjustment to...

This technical note aims to provide a practical overview of the labour market’s benchmark macroeconomic models. The matching models are the primary and most popular theoretical tools used by economists to evaluate various labour market policies and to study the problem of unemployment. These...

This report aimed to assess the main dimensions of work attitudes in the European Union and in a selected sample of extra-EU countries, by analysing several data sources in a comparative way. Some preliminary conclusions can be drawn. It seems that countries at different stages of industrial...

Matching models are the primary and most popular theoretical tools used by economists to evaluate various labour market policies and to study the problem of unemployment. These notes mean to provide an exhaustive introduction to the study of the benchmark macroeconomic models of the labour market.

Relying on the non-negligible role played by the underground economy in the labour market fluctuations, this paper extends the standard matching model à la Mortensen-Pissarides by introducing an underground sector along with an endogenous sector choice for both entrepreneurs and workers. These...

This paper examines whether the Mortensen-Pissarides matching model can account for the housing market facts, most of all the empirical anomaly known as ‘price dispersion’. Our main finding is that the model can account for the three basic facts of housing market (namely, the existence of...