(In)visible Hands in Matching Markets

Jose Alcalde

No 16-2, QM&ET Working Papers from University of Alicante, D. Quantitative Methods and Economic Theory

Abstract: This paper explores sequential mechanisms for (many-to-one) two-sided matching problems. In these mechanisms, agents belonging to a side of the market determine an eligibility restriction; and the agents on the other side select their preferred mates, constrained by the above eligibility. We find out some asymmetries, as well as some coincidences, related to the mechanisms in which the first decision is made by the individuals or the institutions. In particular, for the two classes of mechanisms, it is likely that the outcome is stable. This can be interpreted as if the sequentiality in which agents decide takes the place of the coordination among the whole society. As a main difference, it is found that an extra coordination between individuals is exercised when they impose the eligibility restriction. A consequence of such an ‘over-coordination’ is that the likely outcome coincides with the individuals optimal stable matching. The dual result yielding the institutions’ optimal stable allocation does not hold when these agents are the ones to impose eligibility.

Keywords: Sequentiality; (Pairwise) Stability; Matching Markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 D61 D78 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2016-04-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-gth, nep-mic and nep-pke
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:qmetal:2016_002

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