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Vacancies and Unemployment in Australia

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  • Phillip Chindamo
  • Lawrence Uren

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which the Mortensen–Pissarides model of labour market search can quantitatively match business cycle fluctuations in Australia. With productivity and job‐separation‐rate shocks, the model fails to produce substantial volatility among unemployment or vacancies, a result similar to Shimer's (2005) findings for the United States. Examining a broader range of shocks significantly increases the magnitude of business cycle fluctuations, but still only explains roughly 25 per cent of labour market volatility. The implied volatility of wages in the model is similar to that in the data and hence excessive wage flexibility is unlikely to be central to the failure of the model as claimed in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillip Chindamo & Lawrence Uren, 2010. "Vacancies and Unemployment in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 43(2), pages 136-152, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:43:y:2010:i:2:p:136-152
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8462.2010.00589.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chindamo, Phillip, 2010. "Australian labour market flows over the business cycle," MPRA Paper 35710, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Cezary A. Kapuscinski & Kyle Thomson, 2014. "Experiment Estimates of Indigenous Employment from Administrative Data," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 17(2), pages 139-161.
    3. Dennis Wesselbaum, 2014. "Labour Market Dynamics in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 47(2), pages 173-188, June.

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