This paper contains an equilibrium model of the labor market. The supply function allows f or temporal substitution in response to wage fluctuations, and the de mand function allows for adjustment costs. Two related issues are emp hasized: identification of supply and demand functions, and sources o f serial correlation in employment and real wages. When the supply an d demand shocks are AR(1) processes, the equilibrium process for empl oyment and real wages is a restricted VAR(2). The supply and demand f unctions are (locally) identified using only employment and real wage data. An illustrative application is presented, using U.S. data for 1948-71.

[The partial adjustment model has been used in many areas of applied economics as a description of optimal behavior in the face of adjustment costs. The model requires a specification of how expectations are formed; for example static or adaptive expectations are frequently specified. This paper analyzes the implications of a rational expectations specification. In applications, a series which measures expectations is usually not available, and various proxies have been suggested. If expectations are rational, one can use the actual value of a variable as an estimate of what agents had expected. This device can be used to obtain consistent estimates of the parameters of the partial adjustment model.]

This paper develops a tractable econometric model of optimal migration, focusing on expected income as the main economic influence on migration. The model improves on previous work in two respects: it covers optimal sequences of location decisions (rather than a single once-for-all choice) and it allows for many alternative location choices. The model is estimated using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on white males with a high-school education. Our main conclusion is that interstate migration decisions are influenced to a substantial extent by income prospects. The results suggest that the link between income and migration decisions is driven both by geographic differences in mean wages and by a tendency to move in search of a better locational match when the income realization in the current location is unfavorable.