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Measuring Effective Searchers with Quantity Indexes

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  • McCarthy, Martin

Abstract

To measure labour market tightness or estimate aggregate matching functions, it is common to construct measures of ‘effective searchers’. These measures aggregate together different types of job seekers, such as the unemployed, employed and those not in the labour force. This paper connects the measurement of effective searchers to index number theory for the first time. This provides several insights. Firstly, the measure commonly used in previous literature is a Lowe quantity index. Secondly, one could instead use quantity indexes that use time-varying job-finding rates, such as a Tornqvist or Fisher index. Finally, one should not measure effective searchers as linear combinations of quantities with time-varying coefficients. The effect of using different quantity indexes is illustrated with Australian data.

Suggested Citation

  • McCarthy, Martin, 2025. "Measuring Effective Searchers with Quantity Indexes," Discussion Papers escoe-dp-2025-17, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence.
    • Handle: RePEc:eoe:escoed:escoe-dp-2025-17
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christopher A. Pissarides & Barbara Petrongolo, 2001. "Looking into the Black Box: A Survey of the Matching Function," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 390-431, June.
    2. Margaret Stevens, 2007. "New Microfoundations For The Aggregate Matching Function," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(3), pages 847-868, August.
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    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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