Unobservable Heterogeneity in Directed Search
This paper provides a directed search model designed to explain the residual part of wage variation left over after the impact of education and other observable worker characteristics has been removed. Workers have private information about their characteristics at the time they apply for jobs. Firms value these characteristics differently and can observe these characteristics once workers apply. They and hire the worker they most prefer. However, the characteristics aren't contractible, so firms can't condition their wages on them. The paper shows how to extend directed search arguments to handle this, allowing for arbitrary distributions of worker and firm types. The model is used to provide a functional relationship that ties together the wage distribution and the wage duration. This relationship provides a testable implication of the model. This relationship is used to provide a common property of wage distributions that guarantees that workers who leave unemployment at the highest wages also have the shortest unemployment duration. This is in strict contrast to the usual (and somewhat implausible) directed search story in which high wages are always accompanied by higher probability of unemployment.
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| Length: | 33 pages |
| Date of creation: | 13 Jun 2005 |
| Date of revision: | 16 Oct 2009 |
| Handle: | RePEc:ubc:pmicro:peters-05-06-13-01-50-30 |
| Contact details of provider: | Web page: http://www.economics.ubc.ca/
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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Manolis Galenianos & Philipp Kircher, 2005.
"Directed Search with Multiple Job Applications,"
PIER Working Paper Archive
05-022, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
- Galenianos, Manolis & Kircher, Philipp, 2009. "Directed search with multiple job applications," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 445-471, March.
- Manolis Galenianos & Philipp A. Kircher, 2005. "Directed Search with Multiple Job Applications," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers bgse20_2005, University of Bonn, Germany.
- Manolis Galenianos & Philipp Kircher, 2009. "Directed search with multiple job applications," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29702, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
- Michael Peters, 1998.
"Limits of Exact Equilibria for Capacity Constrained Sellers with costlySearch,"
Working Papers
peters-98-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
- Peters, Michael, 2000. "Limits of Exact Equilibria for Capacity Constrained Sellers with Costly Search," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 139-168, December.
- Albrecht, James & Gautier, Pieter A. & Vroman, Susan, 2003.
"Equilibrium Directed Search with Multiple Applications,"
IZA Discussion Papers
719, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- James Albrecht & Pieter A. Gautier & Susan Vroman, 2006. "Equilibrium Directed Search with Multiple Applications," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 73(4), pages 869-891.
- James Albrecht & Pieter Gautier, 2004. "Equilibrium Directed Search with Multiple Applications," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 330, Econometric Society.
- James Albrecht, Pieter Gautier, & Susan Vroman, 2003. "Equilibrium Directed Search with Multiple Application," Working Papers gueconwpa~03-03-02, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
- Robert Shimer, 2001.
"The Assignment of Workers to Jobs In an Economy with Coordination Frictions,"
NBER Working Papers
8501, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- 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.
- Addison, John T. & Centeno, Mario & Portugal, Pedro, 2004.
"Reservation Wages, Search Duration, and Accepted Wages in Europe,"
IZA Discussion Papers
1252, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- John T. Addison & Mário Centeno & Pedro Portugal, 2004. "Reservation Wages, Search Duration, and Accepted Wages in Europe," Working Papers w200413, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
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