Convergence in Macroeconomics: The Labor Wedge
综述了劳动楔子的研究，即消费与闲暇的边际替代率与劳动边际产出之比。该比率在欧洲高于美国，有助于理解税收对劳动力市场的影响；其在衰退期间上升，表明竞争性市场出清模型在商业周期频率上的失效，并推动了粘性工资和求职模型的研究。
I review research on the behavior of the labor wedge, the ratio between the marginal rate of substitution of consumption for leisure and the marginal product of labor. According to competitive, market-clearing macroeconomic models, the ratio is easy to measure and should be equal to the sum of consumption and labor taxes. The observation that the wedge is higher in continental Europe than in the United States has proved useful for understanding the extent to which taxes can explain differences in labor market outcomes. The observation that the ratio rises during recessions suggests some failure of competitive, market-clearing macroeconomic models at business cycle frequencies. The latter observation has guided recent research, including work on sticky wage models and job search models.