Rosemary Kaiser is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Economics. She received her PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2022. Her research interests are in macroeconomics and labor economics.

Title: Labor Participation, Human Capital Accumulation, and the Business Cycle.

Abstract:We explore labor force participation in a search model where overlapping generations make endogenous education decisions and where their skills can grow while working. Our model closely matches U.S. labor force participation and its response to GDP growth across different age groups and education levels, and it sheds light on the persistent decrease in participation following the pandemic recession. We find that subsidizing job search may lower welfare, as it discourages education and negatively impacts skill development in the long run. However, an age-based subsidy can raise overall welfare.

Rosemary Kaiser’s paper can be found here.