In this paper, we present a spatial equilibrium model where search frictions hinder the immediate reallocation of workers both within and across local labour markets. Because of the frictions, firms and workers find themselves in bilateral monopoly positions when determining wages. Although workers are not at each instant perfectly mobile across cities, in the baseline model we assume that workers flows are sufficient to equate expected utility across markets. We use the model to explore the joint determination of wages, unemployment, house prices and city size (or migration). A key role of the model is to clarify conditions under which this type of spatial equilibrium setup can be estimated. We then use U.S. data over the period 1970-2007 to explore the fit of model and it quantitative properties of the model. Our main goal is to highlight forces that influence spatial equilibria at 10 year intervals.

Unemployment in Open Economies studies how domestic labour markets are influenced by a changing international environment. It combines the recently developed search and matching models with standard models of international trade. By this method, the reader gains new insights in the ongoing debate on how globalisation can affect unemployment. The author develops a collection of models showing that globalisation can be one reason for long-known and well-documented phenomenons on the labour market. She puts emphasis on country differences by studying the role of individual risk behavior and the wage setting on the unemployment level.