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An Incentive Theory of Matching

Author

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  • Brown, Alessio J. G.
  • Merkl, Christian
  • Snower, Dennis J.

Abstract

This paper examines the labour market matching process by distinguishing its two component stages: the contact stage, in which job searchers make contact with employers and the selection stage, in which they decide whether to match. We construct a theoretical model explaining two-sided selection through microeconomic incentives. Firms face adjustment costs in responding to heterogeneous variations in the characteristics of workers and jobs. Matches and separations are described through firms' job offer and firing decisions and workers' job acceptance and quit decisions. Our calibrated model for the U.S. can account for important empirical regularities that the conventional matching model cannot.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Alessio J. G. & Merkl, Christian & Snower, Dennis J., 2010. "An Incentive Theory of Matching," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 37391, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:37391
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Matching; incentives; adjustment costs; unemployment; employment; quits; firing; job offers; job acceptance;
    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
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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