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The Unemployment Volatility Puzzle: The Role of Matching Costs Revisited

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  • Silva, José Ignacio
  • Toledo, Manuel

Abstract

Recently, Pissarides (2008) has argued that the standard search model with sunk fixed matching costs increases unemployment volatility without introducing an unrealistic wage response in new matches. We revise the role of matching costs and show that when these costs are not sunk and, therefore, can be partially passed on to new hired workers in the form of lower wages, the amplication mechanism of fixed matching costs is considerably reduced and wages in new hired positions become more sensitive to productivity shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Silva, José Ignacio & Toledo, Manuel, 2009. "The Unemployment Volatility Puzzle: The Role of Matching Costs Revisited," MPRA Paper 17719, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Oct 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:17719
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. 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.
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    4. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2009. "The Unemployment Volatility Puzzle: Is Wage Stickiness the Answer?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(5), pages 1339-1369, September.
    5. Robert E. Hall & Paul R. Milgrom, 2008. "The Limited Influence of Unemployment on the Wage Bargain," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1653-1674, September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhen Huo & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 2016. "Financial Frictions, Asset Prices, and the Great Recession," Staff Report 526, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    2. Gartner, Hermann & Carbonero, Francesco, 2017. "Search Cost and Search Duration for New Hires," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168141, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Miyamoto, Hiroaki, 2011. "Efficiency in a search and matching model with training costs," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 1838-1841, July.
    4. Alejandro Justiniano & Claudio Michelacci, 2012. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies in the United States and Europe," NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 169-235.
    5. Zhen Huo & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 2013. "Paradox of thrift recessions," Staff Report 490, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    6. Javier Ordóñez & Hector Sala & José I. Silva, 2011. "Oil Price Shocks and Labor Market Fluctuations," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 89-118.
    7. Yusuf Mercan & Benjamin Schoefer & Petr Sedláček, 2020. "A Congestion Theory of Unemployment Fluctuations," CESifo Working Paper Series 8731, CESifo.
    8. Orhan Torul, 2017. "A Note on Labor-Search Models," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 49-71.
    9. Miyamoto, Hiroaki, 2011. "Cyclical behavior of unemployment and job vacancies in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 214-225.
    10. Yusuf Mercan & Benjamin Schoefer & Petr Sedláček, 2024. "A Congestion Theory of Unemployment Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 238-285, January.
    11. Ortego-Marti, Victor, 2017. "The Cyclical Behavior Of Unemployment And Vacancies With Loss Of Skills During Unemployment," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 1277-1304, September.
    12. Alejandro Justiniano & Claudio Michelacci, 2011. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies in the US and Europe," NBER Working Papers 17429, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. M Alper Çenesiz & Luís Guimarães, 2022. "The cyclicality of job search effort in matching models [Labor supply in the past, present, and future: a Balan ced-Growth perspective]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(4), pages 1195-1213.
    14. Zhen Huo & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 2012. "Engineering a paradox of thrift recession," Staff Report 478, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment volatility puzzle; search and matching; matching costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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