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KDI 경제교육·정보센터

ENG
  • 경제배움
  • Economic

    Information

    and Education

    Center

최신자료
Self-Insurance in Turbulent Labor Markets
CEPR
2025.12.15
We study how wealth shapes workers’ outcomes in turbulent labor markets, where job displacement exposes workers to the risk of skill loss. We develop and quantify a heterogeneous agent directed search model with incomplete markets, skill dynamics, and job “tiers” with distinct risk return profiles. Workers self-insure against separation and turbulence risks through savings and search decisions, both within and across tiers, generating post-separation outcomes that vary sharply with wealth. In U.S. data, poor workers face the most significant and most persistent wage losses, driven by wealth-induced downgrades into low-tier jobs. Policy experiments reveal clear trade-offs: unemployment insurance improves welfare, while job-creation subsidies more effectively expand output.