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Identifying Sorting in Practice

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  • Cristian Bartolucci
  • Francesco Devicienti
  • Ignacio Monzon

Abstract

We propose a novel methodology to uncover the sorting pattern in the labor market. Our methodology exploits the additional information contained in profits, which complements the information from wages and transitions typically used in previous work. We identify the strength of sorting solely from a ranking of firms by profits. To discern the sign of sorting, we build a noisy ranking of workers from wage data. We provide a test for the sign of sorting that is consistent even with noise in worker rankings. We apply our approach to a panel data set that combines social security earnings records for workers in the Veneto region of Italy with detailed financial data for firms. We find robust evidence of positive sorting. The correlation between worker and firm types is about 52%.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristian Bartolucci & Francesco Devicienti & Ignacio Monzon, 2015. "Identifying Sorting in Practice," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 431, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
  • Handle: RePEc:cca:wpaper:431
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoming Cai & Pieter Gautier & Ronald Wolthoff, 2021. "Search, Screening and Sorting," Working Papers tecipa-699, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    2. Luca Paolo Merlino & Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli, 2018. "Gender Differences in Sorting," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 671-709, October.
    3. Alessia Matano & Paolo Naticchioni, 2017. "The Extent of Rent Sharing along the Wage Distribution," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 751-777, December.
    4. Gianluca Orefice & Giovanni Peri, 2020. "Immigration and Worker-Firm Matching," Working Papers DT/2020/02, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    5. Colja Schneck, 2021. "Trends in Wage Inequality in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 253-289, August.
    6. Patrick Kline & Raffaele Saggio & Mikkel Sølvsten, 2020. "Leave‐Out Estimation of Variance Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 1859-1898, September.
    7. Peeters, Thomas & van Ours, Jan C., 2022. "International Assortative Matching in the European Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15521, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Belloc, Filippo, 2022. "Profit sharing and innovation across organizational layers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 598-623.
    9. Crane, Leland D. & Hyatt, Henry R. & Murray, Seth M., 2023. "Cyclical labor market sorting," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 524-543.
    10. Andreas Gulyas, 2018. "Identifying Labor Market Sorting with Firm Dynamics," 2018 Meeting Papers 856, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Alex Xi He & John Kennes & Daniel le Maire, 2018. "Complementarity and Advantage in the Competing Auctions of Skills," Economics Working Papers 2018-10, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    12. Toru Kitagawa & Martin Nybom & Jan Stuhler, 2018. "Measurement error and rank correlations," CeMMAP working papers CWP28/18, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    13. Luca Paolo Merlino & Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli, 2018. "Gender Differences in Sorting," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 671-709, October.
    14. Leland Crane & Henry Hyatt & Seth Murray, 2018. "Cyclical Labor Market Sorting," 2018 Meeting Papers 939, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Arellano-Bover, Jaime & Saltiel, Fernando, 2021. "Differences in On-the-Job Learning across Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 14473, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Benjamin Lochner & Bastian Schulz, 2024. "Firm Productivity, Wages, and Sorting," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 85-119.
    17. Schulz, Bastian & Lochner, Benjamin, 2016. "Labor Market Sorting in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145902, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Grinza, Elena & Quatraro, Francesco, 2019. "Workers’ replacements and firms’ innovation dynamics: New evidence from Italian matched longitudinal data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    19. Philipp Ehrl, 2019. "On The Use Of Firm Fixed Effects As A Productivity Measure For Analyzing Labor Market Matching," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(2), pages 195-208, April.
    20. GORYUNOV, Maxim, 2017. "Sorting when firms have size," Economics Working Papers MWP 2017/09, European University Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Assortative matching; worker mobility; profits; matched employer-employee data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior

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