تفکیک پیامدهای مصالح کار ، بازارهای ناقص و اصطکاک های بازار کار

We study the impact of tax and transfer programs on steady-state allocations in a model with search frictions, an operative labor supply margin, and incomplete markets. In a benchmark model that has indivisible labor and incomplete markets but no trading frictions we show that the aggregate effects of taxes are identical to those in the economy with employment lotteries, though individual employment and asset dynamics can be different. The effect of frictions on the response of aggregate hours to a permanent tax change is highly nonlinear. There is considerable scope for substitution between “voluntary” and “frictional” nonemployment in some situations.

Although labor market outcomes have always figured prominently in macroeconomic analyses, the way in which macroeconomists model the labor market has changed dramatically over the last 40 years. In particular, two underlying premises that bear on how to model the labor market have become commonplace during this period: the first is that labor supply matters for aggregate labor market outcomes, and the second is that trading frictions matter for aggregate labor market outcomes. Interestingly, both of these views can be traced to contributions that appeared in the Phelps (1970) volume, and each represented a radical departure from the canonical macroeconomic model of that time period. From the household perspective, the canonical model prevailing at the time assumed that desired hours of work were independent of any features of the economic environment, including such factors as wages, taxes, and transfer programs, and from the firm perspective this model assumed that employment could be costlessly and immediately increased in line with any increase in the demand for labor.

This paper analyzes a model that features frictions, an operative labor supply margin, and incomplete markets. While much has been learned about models with frictions that do not feature an operative labor supply margin as well as about models that feature operative labor supply but no frictions, little is known about models with both features. We have argued that an important goal is to determine for which issues these various features are quantitatively important. The analysis carried out here is only a first step. In particular, we have only considered a model with homogeneous individuals, and the only experiments that we considered were permanent changes in the size of tax and transfer systems. Nonetheless, we feel that the analysis has provided several important findings. For example, there is substantial scope for substitution between voluntary and frictional nonemployment in our model. This creates the possibility that incorporating frictions into the analysis may have little or no impact on the aggregate effects of some policies. If employment is close to the maximal amount allowed given the extent of frictions