Job matching across occupational labour markets

The article refers to job matching processes in occupational labour markets in terms of jobs that share extensive commonalities in their required qualifications and tasks. To date, all studies in this field have been based on the assumption that matching processes only transpire within distinct occupational labour markets and that no occupational changes occur. I present theoretical and empirical arguments that undermine the validity of this assumption. I construct an ‘occupational topology’ based on information about the ways occupational groups may be seen as alternatives in searches for jobs or workers. I then use different empirical models that consider cross-sectional dependency to test the hypothesis that job search and matching occur across occupational labour markets. The results support my hypothesis. The findings suggest that an augmented empirical model should be used that considers job and worker searches across occupational labour markets in estimating job matching elasticities.