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On the distribution of wealth and employment

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  • Yum, Minchul
Abstract
In the United States, the employment rate is nearly flat across wealth quintiles with the exception of the first quintile. Correlations between wealth and employment are close to zero or moderately positive. However, incomplete markets models with a standard utility function counterfactually generate a strongly negative relationship between wealth and employment. Using a fairly standard incomplete markets model calibrated to match the distribution of wealth, I find that government transfers and capital income taxation increase the (non-targeted) correlations between wealth and employment substantially, bringing the model closer to the data. As the model`s fit with the distribution of wealth and employment improves, I find that the precautionary motive of labor supply is mitigated, thereby raising aggregate labor supply elasticities substantially.

Suggested Citation

  • Yum, Minchul, 2018. "On the distribution of wealth and employment," Working Papers 18-03, University of Mannheim, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mnh:wpaper:44432
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. François Fontaine & Janne Nyborg Jensen & Rune Vejlin, 2019. "Wealth, Portfolios, and Unemployment Duration," 2019 Meeting Papers 949, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Jean‐Baptiste Michau, 2021. "On the Provision of Insurance against Search‐Induced Wage Fluctuations," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 382-414, January.
    3. Aditya Aladangady & Etienne Gagnon & Benjamin K. Johannsen & William B. Peterman, 2021. "Macroeconomic Implications of Inequality and Income Risk," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-073, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth distribution ; employment ; government transfers ; capital income taxation ; aggregate labor supply elasticity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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