What should I be when I grow up? Occupations and unemployment over the life cycle

Martin Gervais, Nir Jaimovich, Henry Siu and Yaniv Yedid-Levi

Journal of Monetary Economics, 2016, vol. 83, issue C, 54-70

Abstract: Why is unemployment higher for younger individuals? We address this question in a frictional model of the labor market that features learning about occupational fit. In order to learn the occupation in which they are most productive, workers sample occupations over their careers. Because young workers are more likely to be in matches that represent a poor occupational fit, they spend more time in transition between occupations. Through this mechanism, our model can replicate the observed age differences in unemployment which, as in the data, are due to differences in job separation rates.

Keywords: Unemployment over the life cycle; Learning about occupational fit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Working Paper: What Should I Be When I Grow Up? Occupations and Unemployment over the Life Cycle (2014)
Working Paper: What Should I Be When I Grow Up? Occupations and Unemployment over the Life Cycle (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:moneco:v:83:y:2016:i:c:p:54-70

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2016.08.003

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