A Useful Framework for Linking Labor and Goods Markets: Okun's Law and Its Stability Revisited

Abstract

This paper introduces a useful framework for linking labor and goods markets. This framework enables us to provide a reasonable theoretical background to Okun's law and hence facilitates the decomposition of Okun's coefficient into several quantifiable and interpretable components that incorporate the main insights of Arthur Okun's original analysis and the traditional Keynesian view. The empirical decomposition exercise indicates that Okun's law has an inherent tendency to vary substantially over time and this provides a potential explanation to the empirical studies that have shed doubt on the stability of Okun's law.