Complementarities and substitutabilities in matching models

This paper describes an equilibrium matching model with two types of workers producing two different intermediate goods. Labour markets are perfectly segmented, but productive complementarities between sectors and productive substitutability within sectors arise. This deeply changes the effects of labour market policies. A welfare analysis is also conducted. Under constant returns to scale in the matcing technology, the so-called Hosios condition is sufficient to guarantee the efficiency of the decentralized equilibrium.

Equilibrium in Matching Models with Employment Dependent Productivity

In a standard search and matching framework, the labor market presents frictions while in the competitive product market the demand is infinitely elastic.To have a more realistic framework, some models abandon the assumption of infinite elasticity and consider a two-tier productive scheme in the goods market. In this paper, I establish the conditions that are sufficient for the existence and the uniqueness of a steady-state equilibrium for this kind of models. I also notice that some standard assumptions about the production and matching technology (a Cobb-Douglas function) do not fulfill such conditions and so may hinder the existence of an equilibrium.Unemployment, search-matching equilibrium.

Employment subsidies and substitutable skills : An equilibrium matching approach

This search-matching model is well suited for an equilibrium evaluation of labor market policies. When those policies are targeted on some groups, the usual juxtaposition of labor markets is however a shortcoming. There is a need for a setting where workers’ productivity depends on employment levels in all markets. This paper provides such a theoretical setting. We first develop a streamlined model and then show that it can be extended to deal with interactions among various labor market and fiscal policies. Simulation results focus on the effects of employment subsidies and in-work benefits and on their interactions with the profile of unemployment benefits and with active labor market programs.Unemployment; search-matching equilibrium; wage bargaining; reductions of social security contributions; unemployment insurance; labor market programs

Matching Models Under Scrutiny : Understanding the Shimer Puzzle

Two papers have recently questioned the quantitative consistency of the search and matching models. Shimer (2005) has argued that a text-book matching model is unable to explain the cyclical variation of unemployment and vacancies in the U.S. economy. Costain and Reiter (2007) have found the existence of a trade-off in the model’s performance : any attempt to change the calibrated values in order to amend such business cycle inability would jeopardize the model’s predictions about the impact of unemployment benefits on the hazard rate. In surveying the literature originated in these findings, I distinguish three different avenues that have been followed to corret the model : change in wage formation, change in the calibration, changes in the model specification. The last approach seems to reach the best results both from a business cycle and from a microeconomic viewpoint.Search-matching equilibrium, Business Cycles, Labour markets

Does product market competition improve the labour market performance ?

In this paper, I construct a general equilibrium model in which the labour market exhibits search frictions, whereas Cournot competition is assumed in the goods market. The properties of the long run free-entry equiibrium show that a more competitive product market raises employment, but it has ambiguous effects both on the real wage and on the utility of the employees. Moreover, from a normative viewpoint, the level of employment and the degree of competition may be inefficiently high. Numerical results based on Belgian data are finally performed.product market competition, search matching equilibrium, barriers to entry

The Time Diversification Controversy: An Analysis of the Italian Financial Market

Does the risk of an investment change with its timehorizon? In this article we put to test the competing claims presented by the literature on the so-called time diversification controversy. Using data from the Italian financial market of the last twenty years, we look at the evolution of different measures of risk as we extend the investment period. Our results seem to confirm Samuelson\u2019s view, that, under certain conditions, the riskiness of an investment increases with the time horizon

Value Stocks and Growth Stocks: A Study of the Italian Market

This article focuses on the study of value and growth stocks in the Italian market during the period 2001-2018, trying to understand if there is a difference in terms of return between the two share classes and which could be the explanation. The analysis reveals a persistent and large value premium in the early 2000s, while after the financial crisis the premium diminished considerably. The excess return provided by value stocks was marked and persistent only in case of smaller firms, while in case of large-cap stocks the phenomenon was limited and present only in the early years of the 21st century. Finally, the analysis suggests that value stocks are not particularly riskier than growth stocks. Therefore, it seems that, at least in part, the value premium in the Italian market may present a mispricing explanation

The Welfare and Employment Effects of Centralized Public Sector Wage Bargaining

In many countries, the government pays almost identical nominal wages to workers living in regions with notable economic disparities. By developing a two-region general equilibrium model with endogenous migration and search frictions in the labour market, I study the differences in terms of unemployment, real wages, and welfare between a regional wage bargaining process and a national one in the public sector. Adopting the latter makes residents in the poorer region better off and residents of the richer region worse off. Private sector employment decreases in the poorer region and it increases in the richer one. Under some conditions, the unemployment rate in the poorer region soars. Simulation results also show that a regional bargaining scheme may increase inequality

The Cyclical Volatility of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies: Evidence from Italy

In this paper, we explore the fluctuations of unemployment and vacancies in the Italian labour market over the last twenty years. For reasons of data availability on unfilled job openings, this period is split in two parts. The former is covered by a help-wanted time series, while the latter is analyzed relying on a harmonized vacancy rate. In both periods, in line with previous findings on the unemployment volatility puzzle, we find that the tightness indicator is more volatile than productivity. However, the gap between the respective volatilities achieves the order of magnitude observed in other countries only by using the official measure of vacancies. In addition, we show that a model with segmented labour markets and on-the-job search has the potential to provide a rationale for the pattern disclosed by the most recent data

The Cyclical Volatility of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies: Evidence from Italy

In this paper, we explore the fluctuations of unemployment and vacancies in the Italian labour market over the last twenty years. For reasons of data availability on unfilled job openings, this period is split in two parts. The former is covered by a help-wanted time series, while the latter is analyzed by means of a harmonized vacancy rate. In both periods, in line with previous findings on the unemployment volatility puzzle, we find that the labour market tightness indicator is much more volatile than productivity. Moreover, we show that a matching model with segmented labour markets and on-the-job search has the potential to provide a rationale for this pattern