Job Searchers, Job Matches and the Elasticity of Matching

CentER Working Paper No. 1998-72

Posted: 14 Oct 1999

See all articles by L. Broersma

L. Broersma

University of Groningen - Department of Economics & Department of Spatial Sciences

Jan C. van Ours

Tilburg University - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Department of Economics

Date Written: 1998

Abstract

This paper stresses the importance of a specification of the matching function in which the measure of job matches corresponds to the measure of job searchers. In many empirical studies on the matching function this requirement has not been fulfilled because it is difficult to find information about employed job searchers and job searchers from outside the labor market. In this paper, we specify and estimate matching functions where the flow corresponds to the correct stock. We use several approximations for the stock of non-unemployed job searchers. We find that the estimation results are sensitive to the approximation we use. Our main conclusion is that it is important to account for the behavior of non-unemployed job searchers since otherwise the estimated parameters of the matching function may be seriously biased.

JEL Classification: J60, J64

Suggested Citation

Broersma, L. and van Ours, Jan C., Job Searchers, Job Matches and the Elasticity of Matching (1998). CentER Working Paper No. 1998-72, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=166463

L. Broersma

University of Groningen - Department of Economics & Department of Spatial Sciences ( email )

P.O. Box 800
9700 AH Groningen
Netherlands

Jan C. Van Ours (Contact Author)

Tilburg University - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 466 2880 (Phone)
+31 13 466 3042 (Fax)

University of Melbourne - Department of Economics ( email )

Melbourne, 3010
Australia

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