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Interview with Prof. Nir
Jaimovich
Professor Jaimovich, one of your main research
fields is dynamics of the labor market with a focus
on employment fluctuations over the years. What is
the main insight from your work in this field?
Nir Jaimovich:
Personally, my work has taught me
that there is a tight connection between processes
that we usually think about as “long run” changes
in the economy and more “short run” effects. Spe-
cifically, it has been traditionally the case in eco-
nomics that these two topics have been studied
almost separately. My work, through different
angles, has shown that employment fluctuations are
tightly connected to phenomena that seem to be
thought of as “slow paced” processes, such as
demographic changes or the arrival of new tech-
nologies, leading to automation.
You have investigated the consequences of demo-
graphic change. What is an aging and slow-grow-
ing population doing to the U.S. economy?
There are naturally different effects of demographic
transition. My research has mainly emphasized the
important age differences in labor market out-
comes, and how changes in an economy’s age com-
position impact the level of aggregate unemploy-
ment and the severity of business cycle fluctuations.
Without getting too technical, my work has found
that changes in the age composition of the labor
force account for a significant fraction of the varia-
tion in business cycle volatility observed in industri-
alized countries. Similarly, my other work in this
area addressed the question of why unemployment
is so much higher for the young than for the old.
You spent the past years living, studying, and
working in the U.S. What drew you to Switzerland
and the University of Zurich?
It was a mix of personal and professional reasons.
On the personal side, my wife and I were eager to
try a new culture and lifestyle for our family (we
have two young boys) that would enrich us. We felt
Switzerland was such a place where we could have a
unique experience and where we would love to raise
our family.
Professionally, I was excited about the economics
department at the University of Zurich. There are
some fantastic economists here and I was looking
forward to expanding my professional horizons.
The UBS Center helps academics get their message
across to policy makers, business leaders, and the
public at large. What is the main message you
would like to convey?
I think that cooperation between all of these seg-
ments is important, as each group has its compara-
tive advantage and unique point of view. Most of
my work is applied in nature, so being in touch
with the “real world” is a key to it. In fact, every
new project I have, I first present to my wife (who is
not an economist) – if it doesn’t pass her reality test
or she thinks it’s not an important enough question
(as is usually the case) then that’s a warning sign for
me.
Nir Jaimovich
has been appointed Professor of
Economics at the University of Zurich as of July 1,
2017. He is affiliated with the UBS Center.
Prior to moving to Zurich, he was on the faculty
at the Marshall Business School at University of
Southern California, Duke University, Stanford
University, and University of California, San Diego.
His research focuses on business cycles and the
dynamics of the labor market.
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