Frictional labor markets and policy interventions : dynamics and welfare implications

Overview & Synopsis

The objective underlying the three chapters of this thesis is the understanding of the functioning of the labor market to make a diagnosis about the potential regulatory role of a public authority in this market. ln the first chapter, I analyze, from a purely "positive" point of view, the ability of the model with search and matching frictions to reproduce short-term fluctuations of labor market variables in the United States. I propose a new calibration strategy, within a general equilibrium framework with sticky prices. In the second chapter (co-written with F. Langot), we study the determinants of changes in the labor supply over the last fifty years. Changes in the tax wedge, and two variables reflecting the institutional framework (the generosity of income in case of "non-employment" and workers' bargaining power), can explain the different trajectories of the rate employment and hours worked observed in the United States and three European economies (France, Germany and the United Kingdom). ln the third chapter, I analyze the performance of two alternative systems of social security, within the framework of a model with heterogeneous agents in terms of wealth. The agents are subject to a risk of unemployment, and the planner can provide insurance through a redistibutive tax system, based on a progressive tax and / or unemployment insurance. The progressive tax system is superior in terms of aggregate welfare to the insurance provided through unemployment benefits, through its effect on the functioning of the labor market.