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A Theory of Partially Directed Search

Author

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  • Guido Menzio

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

This paper studies a search model of the labor market where firms have private information about the quality of their vacancies, they can costlessly communicate with unemployed workers before the beginning of the application process, but the content of the communication does not constitute a contractual obligation. At the end of the application process, wages are determined as the outcome of an alternating offer bargaining game. The model is used to show that vague non-contractual announcements about compensation - such as those one is likely to find in help-wanted ads - can be correlated with actual wages and can partially direct the search strategy of workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Menzio, 2007. "A Theory of Partially Directed Search," PIER Working Paper Archive 09-006, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
  • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:09-006
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daron Acemoglu & Robert Shimer, 1999. "Efficient Unemployment Insurance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(5), pages 893-928, October.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Random search; directed search; non-cooperative bargaining; Coase conjecture; cheap-talk games;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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