IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aim/wpaimx/2315.html

The Matching Function: A Unified Look into the Black Box

Author

Abstract

In this paper, we use tools from network theory to trace the properties of the matching function to the structure of granular connections between applicants and firms. We link seemingly disparate parts of the literature and recover existing functional forms as special cases. Our overarching message is that structure counts. For rich structures, captured by non-random networks, the matching function depends on whole sets rather than just the sizes of the two sides of the market. For less rich-random network-structures it depends on the sizes of the two sides and a few structural parameters. Structures characterized by greater asymmetries reduce the matching function's efficacy, while denser structures can have ambiguous effects on it. For the special case of the Erdös-Rényi network, we show that the way the network varies with the sizes of the two sides of the market determines if the matching function exhibits constant returns to scale, or even if it is of a specific functional form, such as CES.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgios Angelis & Yann Bramoullé, 2023. "The Matching Function: A Unified Look into the Black Box," AMSE Working Papers 2315, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2315
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://test.amse-aixmarseille.fr/sites/default/files/working_papers/wp_2023_-_nr_15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877, December.
    2. Lange, Fabian & Papageorgiou, Theodore, 2020. "Beyond Cobb-Douglas: Flexibly Estimating Matching Functions with Unobserved Matching Efficiency," IZA Discussion Papers 13177, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Benedikt Herz & Thijs van Rens, 2020. "Accounting for Mismatch Unemployment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1619-1654.
    4. Robert Shimer, 2005. "The Assignment of Workers to Jobs in an Economy with Coordination Frictions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 996-1025, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feng, Shuaizhang & Zheng, Bingyong, 2009. "Cherry-Picking in Labor Market with Imperfect Information," IZA Discussion Papers 4309, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Xiangbo Liu & Theodore Palivos & Xiaomeng Zhang, 2017. "Immigration, Skill Heterogeneity, And Qualification Mismatch," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1231-1264, July.
    3. Pizzo, Alessandra & Villena-Roldán, Benjamin, 2024. "Labor markets, wage Inequality, and hiring selection," MPRA Paper 120281, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Hayato Kanayama & Suguru Otani, 2024. "Nonparametric Estimation of Matching Efficiency and Elasticity in a Spot Gig Work Platform: 2019-2023," Papers 2412.19024, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2025.
    5. Andersson, Tommy & Ellegård, Lina Maria & Enache, Andreea & Erlanson, Albin & Thami, Prakriti, 2024. "Multiple pricing for personal assistance services," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    6. Hongyu Lin, 2026. "Demand Index and Supply Index Based on Principal Component Analysis: Evidence From US Labor Market," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(1), pages 163-179, January.
    7. Albrecht, James & Cai, Xiaoming & Gautier, Pieter & Vroman, Susan, 2020. "Multiple applications, competing mechanisms, and market power," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    8. Joonbae Lee & Hanna Wang, 2021. "Ranking and Search Effort in Matching," Working Papers 1242, Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Simon Mongey & Giovanni L. Violante, 2019. "Macro Recruiting Intensity from Micro Data," NBER Working Papers 26231, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Joonbae Lee & Hanna Wang, 2023. "Ranking and search effort in matching," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(1), pages 113-136, January.
    11. Gautier, Pieter & Holzner, Christian, 2011. "Simultaneous Search and Network Efficiency," CEPR Discussion Papers 8522, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Leo Kaas & Philipp Kircher, 2015. "Efficient Firm Dynamics in a Frictional Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3030-3060, October.
    13. Kennes, John & le Maire, Daniel & Roelsgaard, Sebastian T., 2020. "Equivalence of canonical matching models," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 169-182.
    14. Claudio Michelacci & Javier Suarez, 2006. "Incomplete Wage Posting," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(6), pages 1098-1123, December.
    15. Rogerson, Richard & Shimer, Robert, 2011. "Search in Macroeconomic Models of the Labor Market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 7, pages Pages: 61, Elsevier.
    16. Jake Bradley, 2025. "Worker-Firm Screening and the Business Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 57, July.
    17. Semih Tumen, 2016. "Informal versus formal search: Which yields better pay?," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 12(3), pages 257-277, September.
    18. Schmieder, Johannes F., 2023. "Establishment age and wages," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 424-442.
    19. Wolcott, Erin L., 2021. "Employment inequality: Why do the low-skilled work less now?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 161-177.
    20. Davoodalhosseini, Seyed Mohammadreza, 2019. "Constrained efficiency with adverse selection and directed search," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 568-593.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2315. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gregory Cornu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/amseafr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.