In this paper, we study nonemployed workers' job search behavior. In particular, we analyze how search behavior changes over the business cycle. Theoretically, we show that job search intensity can either be procyclical or countercyclical depending on various factors. Empirically, we first...

We create a novel measure of job search effort starting in 1994 by exploiting the overlap between the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey. We examine the cyclical behavior of aggregate job search effort using time series and cross-state variation and find that it is...

We analyse a Bewley-Huggett-Aiyagari incomplete-markets model with labour-market frictions. Consumers are subject to idiosyncratic employment shocks against which they cannot insure directly. The labour market has a Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides structure: firms enter by posting vacancies and...

This paper considers the optimal contract when the current (hidden) action of an agent has a persistent effect on the future outcome. The optimal contract in a two-effort choice, two-period setting is characterized analytically and numerically. In particular, we show that persistence tends to...

We build a general equilibrium model that features uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks, search frictions and an operative labor supply choice along the extensive margin. The model is calibrated to match the average levels of gross flows across the three labor market states: employment,...

This paper reconsiders the cost of business cycles under market incompleteness. Primarily, we focus on the heterogeneity in the cost among different skill groups. Unskilled workers are subject to a much larger risk of unemployment during recessions than are skilled workers. Moreover, unskilled...

This paper constructs a general equilibrium search-matching model with heterogeneous workers. Workers choose whether to invest in general human capital or specific human capital when they enter the labor market. We analyze how unemployment benefits affect the choice of the type of human capital...

This paper examines the causes of the observed increase in the average unemployment duration over the past thirty years. First we analyze if changes in the demographic com- position of the U.S. labor force can explain this increase. In particular, we examine how much of the observed change can...

We develop a model featuring search frictions and a nondegenerate labor supply decision along the extensive margin, and argue that it does a reasonable job of matching labor market flows between employment, unemployment and out of the labor force. Persistent idiosyncratic productivity shocks...