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Labour Market Imperfections, "Divine Coincidence" and Volatility of Employment and Inflation

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  • Mirko Abbritti
  • Andrea Boitani
  • Mirella Damiani

Abstract

The dynamic general equilibrium model with hiring costs presented in this paper delivers involuntary unemployment in the steady state as well as involuntary fluctuations in unemployment. The existence of hiring frictions introduces externalities that, in turn, entail the breakdown of the “divine coincidence” without assuming real wage rigidity. We are able to show that our model with labour market imperfections outperforms the standard New Keynesian model as for the persistence of responses to monetary shocks. We also attempt an analysis of the volatility of two economies, differing in their “degrees of imperfection”. It turns out that “rigid” economies exhibit less unemployment volatility and more inflation volatility than “flexible” economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mirko Abbritti & Andrea Boitani & Mirella Damiani, 2012. "Labour Market Imperfections, "Divine Coincidence" and Volatility of Employment and Inflation," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 3(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:pia:review:v:3:y:2012:i:1:n:2
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    hiring costs; wage bargaining; output gap; new keynesian Phillips curve;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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