Aggregate Recruiting Intensity

61 Pages Posted: 26 Sep 2016 Last revised: 19 Dec 2022

See all articles by Alessandro Gavazza

Alessandro Gavazza

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics

Simon Mongey

New York University (NYU)

Giovanni L. Violante

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Date Written: September 2016

Abstract

We develop a model of firm dynamics with random search in the labor market where hiring firms exert recruiting effort by spending resources to fill vacancies faster. Consistent with micro evidence, in the model fast-growing firms invest more in recruiting activities and achieve higher job-filling rates. In equilibrium, individual decisions of hiring firms aggregate into an index of economy-wide recruiting intensity. We use the model to study how aggregate shocks transmit to recruiting intensity, andwhether this channel can account for the dynamics of aggregate matching efficiency around the Great Recession. Productivity and financial shocks lead to sizable pro-cyclical fluctuations inmatching efficiency through recruiting effort. Quantitatively, the main mechanism is that firms attain their employment targets by adjusting their recruiting effort as labor market tightness varies. Shifts in sectoral composition can have a sizable impact on aggregate recruiting intensity. Fluctuations in new-firm entry, instead, have a negligible effect despite their contribution to aggregate job and vacancy creations.

Suggested Citation

Gavazza, Alessandro and Mongey, Simon and Violante, Giovanni L., Aggregate Recruiting Intensity (September 2016). NBER Working Paper No. w22677, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2843410

Alessandro Gavazza (Contact Author)

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Economics ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Simon Mongey

New York University (NYU) ( email )

Bobst Library, E-resource Acquisitions
20 Cooper Square 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10003-711
United States

Giovanni L. Violante

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics ( email )

269 Mercer Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10011
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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