Search, Screening, and Sorting

Xiaoming Cai, Pieter Gautier and Ronald Wolthoff

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 205-36

Abstract: We examine how search frictions impact labor market sorting by constructing a model consistent with evidence that employers interview a subset of a pool of applicants. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for sorting in applications and matches. Positive sorting is obtained when production complementarities outweigh a counterforce measured by a (novel) quality-quantity elasticity. Interestingly, the threshold for the complementarities depends on the fraction of high-type workers and can be increasing in the number of interviews. Our model shows how policies like Ban the Box can backfire because when screening workers becomes harder, firms may discourage certain workers from applying.

JEL-codes: D22 D82 D83 J23 M51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Related works:
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2022)
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2021)
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2021)
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2021)
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2021)
Working Paper: Search, Screening and Sorting (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/mac.20240026

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