This paper examines tax return-generated data on the labor force behavior of people
before and after they receive inheritances. The results are consistent with Andrew Camegie’s
century-old assertion that large inheritances decrease a person's labor force participation. For
example, a…

This paper assesses the ability of a simple search—theoretic
model to explain the results of two controlled reemployment bonus
experiments. The availability of two independent experiments
with substantially different treatments allows for a rigorous
test of the model. Parameters of…

This paper uses aggregate birth year/calendar year level data derived
from the Current Population Survey (CPS) to estimate the effect of Social
Security wealth on the labor supply of older men in the l970s and 1980s.
The analysis focuses on…

Two approaches to estimation and testing of fixed effects models are
commonly found in the econometrics literature. The first involves variations on
instrumental variables. The second, a Minimum Chi-Square (MCS) procedure
introduced by Chamberlain, minimizes a quadratic form in the…

Veterans of World War II are widely believed to earn more than
nonveterans of the same age. Theoretical justifications for the World War
II veteran premium include the subsidization of education and training, and
preference for veterans in hiring. In…

In this paper we provide theoretical and empirical analyses of an
asymmetric-information model of layoffs in which the current employer is
better informed about its workers’ abilities than prospective employers
are. The key feature of the model is that when…

Standard models of dynamic labor demand rely on the presence of
adjustment costs to explain the observed smoothness in employment patterns,
although the costs are often difficult to quantify. The experience rating
feature of the U.S. Unemployment Insurance (UI) system…

We study strike durations and outcomes for some 2000 disputes that occurred
between 1881 and 1886. Most post-strike bargaining settlements in the 1880s fell
into one of two categories: either a union "victory", characterized by a
significant wage gain or…

This paper analyzes the role of liquidity constraints in the formation of new
entrepreneurial enterprises. The basic empirical strategy is to determine whether an
individual's wealth affects the probability of becoming an entrepreneur, and the conditional
amounts of depreciable assets…

I use a sample of over fourteen thousand full-time jobs held by workers
in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to examine mobility
patterns and to evaluate theories of inter-firm worker mobility. The roles
of both heterogeneity and state…