The paper takes the search and matching model of the aggregate labor market to the data. It tests the model's empirical validity and employs structural estimation to generate a characterization of the optimal behavior of firms and workers. The model is applied to Israeli data that are uniquely suited for this kind of empirical investigation. The structural estimates are used to quantify the frictions embodied in the model, including the costs of search, the congestion and trading externality effects, and the matching process. A calibration-simulation analysis then studies the effect of several key variables on equilibrium unemployment.

What role does labor play in firms' market value? We use a production-based asset pricing model with factor adjustment costs and forward-looking agents to explore this question. We posit that the hiring of labor is akin to investment in capital and that the two interact, with the interaction being a crucial determinant of the dynamic behavior of market value. Using aggregate US corporate sector data, we estimate firms' optimal hiring and investment decisions and the consequences for firms' value.