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Sorting Between and Within Industries: A Testable Model of Assortative Matching

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  • John M. Abowd
  • Francis Kramarz
  • Sébastien Pérez-Duarte
  • Ian M. Schmutte

Abstract

We test for sorting of workers between and within industrial sectors in a directed search model with coordination frictions. We fit the model to sector-specific vacancy and output data along with publicly-available statistics that characterize the distribution of worker and employer wage heterogeneity across sectors. Our empirical method is general and can be applied to a broad class of assignment models. The results indicate that industries are the loci of sorting-more productive workers are employed in more productive industries. The evidence confirms assortative matching can be present even when worker and employer components of wage heterogeneity are weakly correlated.

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  • John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & Sébastien Pérez-Duarte & Ian M. Schmutte, 2014. "Sorting Between and Within Industries: A Testable Model of Assortative Matching," NBER Working Papers 20472, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20472
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    Cited by:

    1. Koji Takahashi & Sumiko Takaoka, 2023. "How much do firms need to satisfy employees? - Evidence from credit spreads and online employee reviews," BIS Working Papers 1111, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Erling Barth & James Davis & Richard B. Freeman, 2018. "Augmenting the Human Capital Earnings Equation with Measures of Where People Work," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 71-97.
    3. Erling Barth & Alex Bryson & James C. Davis & Richard Freeman, 2016. "It's Where You Work: Increases in the Dispersion of Earnings across Establishments and Individuals in the United States," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S2), pages 67-97.
    4. Wolfgang Dauth & Sebastian Findeisen & Enrico Moretti & Jens Suedekum, 2022. "Matching in Cities," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1478-1521.
    5. Christopher Cornwell & Ian M. Schmutte & Daniela Scur, 2021. "Building a Productive Workforce: The Role of Structured Management Practices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(12), pages 7308-7321, December.
    6. Bastien Drut & Richard Duhautois, 2017. "Assortative Matching Using Soccer Data," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(5), pages 431-447, June.
    7. Yuan, Wen Jin & Antonio, Katherine & Butcher, Arona, 2022. "Incorporating Industry-Specific Wages and Unemployment into the GTAP Model: U.S.-EU Trade Liberalization Scenarios," Conference papers 333450, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    8. Kramarz, Francis & Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2020. "Volatility in the small and in the large: The lack of diversification in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. John Kennes & Daniel le Maire, 2016. "On the equivalence of buyer and seller proposals within canonical matching and pricing environments," Economics Working Papers 2016-10, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    10. Shuaizhang Feng & Lars Lefgren & Brennan C. Platt & Bingyong Zheng, 2019. "Job search under asymmetric information: endogenous wage dispersion and unemployment stigma," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 67(4), pages 817-851, June.
    11. Scur, Daniela & Schmutte, Ian & Cornwell, Christopher, 2019. "Building a productive workforce: the role of structured management," CEPR Discussion Papers 13908, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Kory Kantenga, 2016. "Sorting and Wage Inequality," 2016 Meeting Papers 660, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Andreas Gulyas, 2018. "Identifying Labor Market Sorting with Firm Dynamics," 2018 Meeting Papers 856, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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