Trade shocks and labor adjustment

Description

"We construct a dynamic, stochastic rational expectations model of labor reallocation within a trade model that is designed so that its key parameters can be estimated for trade policy analysis. A key feature is the presence of time-varying idiosyncratic moving costs faced by workers. As a consequence of these shocks: (i) Gross flows exceed net flows (an important feature of empirical labor movements); (ii) the economy features gradual and anticipatory adjustment to aggregate shocks; (iii) wage differentials across locations or industries can persist in the steady state; and (iv) the normative implications of policy can be very different from a model without idiosyncratic shocks, even when the aggregate behaviour of both models is similar. It is shown that the equilibrium solves a particular planner's problem, thus facilitating analytical results, econometric estimation, and simulation of the model for policy analysis"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.

Subjects

Series Statement

• NBER working paper series -- working paper 13463
• Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 13463.

Links

• URL