Publication Type

Working Paper

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

4-2018

Abstract

We estimate the relationship between investment and unemployment over the time period 1960-2015 in 20 OECD countries. While neoclassical growth theory typically assumes full employment – with no effect of investment on unemployment – we find that over our sample period covering more than five decades, a statistically significant negative relationship does exist: when investment fell, unemployment increased. When the time period is broken down into two sub-periods to take account of the Great Recession, we find that the estimated coefficient of investment is slightly smaller when the period 2001-2015 is added to the 1960-2000 period. We also find a positive effect of the current account surplus on unemployment that very likely works through investment. A non-monetary model shows how an increase in policy uncertainty that sharply contracts investment and raises unemployment can lead to an increase in current account surplus.

Keywords

Long swings of unemployment, investment, current account, Great Recession

Discipline

Finance | Labor Economics

Research Areas

Applied Microeconomics

First Page

1

Last Page

29

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