Unemployment Invariance

19 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2002

See all articles by Marika Karanassou

Marika Karanassou

University of London, Queen Mary - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Dennis J. Snower

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Date Written: July 2002

Abstract

This paper provides a critique of the "unemployment invariance hypothesis," according to which the behavior of the labor market ensures that the long-run unemployment rate is independent of the size of the capital stock, productivity, and the labor force. Using Solow growth and endogenous growth models, we show that the labor market alone need not contain all the equilibrating mechanisms to ensure unemployment invariance; in particular, other markets may perform part of the equilibrating process as well. By implication, policies that raise the growth path of capital or increase the effective working-age population may influence the long-run unemployment rate.

Keywords: Unemployment, Employment, Wage Determination, Labor Supply, Capital Accumulation, Productivity, Technological Change, Economic Growth

JEL Classification: J21, J23, J30, J38, J64, J68

Suggested Citation

Karanassou, Marika and Snower, Dennis J., Unemployment Invariance (July 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=323685 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.323685

Marika Karanassou

University of London, Queen Mary - Department of Economics ( email )

Mile End Road
London, E1 4NS
United Kingdom
+44 20 7975 5090 (Phone)
+44 20 7983 3580 (Fax)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Dennis J. Snower (Contact Author)

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW) ( email )

Duesternbrooker Weg 120
D-24118 Kiel
Germany
+49+431-8814-235 (Phone)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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