Why did the average duration of unemployment become so much longer?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mukoyama, Toshihiko; Sahin, Ayseguel
• 署名单位: University of Virginia; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - New York
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2008.11.002
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 200-209
• 关键词: unemployment duration; wage dispersion; Job search model

摘要

There has been a substantial increase in the average duration of unemployment relative to the unemployment rate in the U.S. over the last 30 years. We evaluate the performance of a standard job-search model in explaining this phenomenon. In particular, we examine whether the increase in within-group wage inequality and the decline in the incidence of unemployment can account for the increase in unemployment duration. The results indicate that these two changes can explain a significant part of the increase over the last 30 years, although the model fails to match the behavior of unemployment duration during 1980s. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.