search models of the labour market

how local are labour markets? evidence from a spatial job search model (with barbara petrongolo)

estimates the effective size of labour markets using very disaggregated data on unemployment and vacancies

steady-state equilibrium in a model of short-term wage-posting

shows that a short-term version of the classic burdett-mortensen model is perhaps stranger than you might think

you can't always get what you want: the impact of the uk jobseeker's allowance

or (if you can afford it) access through sciencedirect

argues uk reform of ui system with introduction of jsa in 1996 did little more than move people off benefit without increasing flows into employment and without increasing search activity

labour supply, search and taxes.

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theoretical paper investigating impact of tax system on employment in a search model where jobs are an earnings-hours package. some surprising results e.g. an increase in marginal tax rates may increase incentives to work.

mighty good thing: the returns to tenure.

companion paper to the previous one deriving predictions from search model about how earnings will vary with tenure. calibrates model using uk data to see how much of cross-sectional returns to experience can be explained in this way.

can supply create its own demand? (with s.machin).

(if you can afford it) access through sciencedirect

uses a search model in which employers must decide ex ante the type of job to create to show that an increase in the supply of skilled workers will encourage employers to create more skilled jobs and can bring forth enough demand to raise the wage of skilled workers. plus an application to the impact of the rise in british education levels to the returns to education

a simple test of the shirking model (with j.thomas).

looks for evidence that there is a gap between the reservation wage of workers and the minimum wage at which employers are prepared to employ them as predicted by the shirking model. empirical application rather too dependent on functional form but are there any good empirical papers on efficiency wages?

endogenous labour market segmentation in a matching model

shows how the burdett-mortensen model with a decreasing returns to scale production function has multiple equilibria in which there are two segments: one in which employment is demand-determined and one in which it is suppl-determined. but, equilibrium has an unappealing knife-edge property.