Skip to main content

Unemployment

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 368 Accesses

Abstract

The unemployed are individuals who are without work but who are actively seeking employment. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labour force – the total number of people either working or seeking work – that is unemployed. The evidence suggests that the ‘natural rate’ of unemployment (or non-employment) is not a constant towards which the labour market converges; rather, it varies with labour market fundamentals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Alchian, A. 1969. Information costs, pricing, and resource utilization. Western Economic Journal 7: 109–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Autor, D.H., and Mark G. Duggan. 2003. The rise in the disability rolls and the decline in unemployment. Quarterly Journal of Economics 118: 157–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Autor, H., and Mark G. Duggan. 2006. The growth in the Social Security disability rolls: A fiscal crisis unfolding. Journal of Economic Perspectives 20 (3): 71–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. 1968. The role of monetary policy. American Economic Review 58: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gronau, R. 1971. Information and frictional unemployment. American Economic Review 61: 290–301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juhn, C., K.M. Murphy, and R.H. Topel. 1991. Why has the natural rate of unemployment increased over time? Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1991 (1): 75–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juhn, C., K.M. Murphy, and R.H. Topel. 2002. Current unemployment, historically contemplated. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2002 (1): 79–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R., S. Nickell, and R. Jackman. 1991. Unemployment: Macroeconomic performance and the labour market. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ljungqvist, L., and T.J. Sargent. 1998. The European unemployment dilemma. Journal of Political Economy 106: 514–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R., and E. Prescott. 1974. Equilibrium search and unemployment. Journal of Economic Theory 4: 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCall, J. 1970. Economics of information and job search. Quarterly Journal of Economics 84: 113–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortensen, D. 1970. A theory of wage and employment dynamics. In Microeconomic foundations of employment and inflation theory, ed. E.S. Phelps et al. New York: W.W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, K.M., and R.H. Topel. 1987. The evolution of unemployment in the United States. In NBER macroeconomics annual 1987, ed. S. Fischer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, K.M., and R.H. Topel. 1997. Unemployment and nonemployment. American Economic Review 187: 295–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, E.S. 1974. Economic policy and unemployment in the 1960s. The Public Interest 34(Winter), 30–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogerson, R., R. Shimer, and R. Wright. 2005. Search-theoretic models of the labor market: A survey. Journal of Economic Literature 43: 959–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Topel, R.H. 1993. What have we learned from empirical studies of unemployment and turnover? American Economic Review 83: 110–115.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Topel, R. (2018). Unemployment. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1772

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics