Job Applications and Labour Market Flows

Serdar Birinci, Kurt See and Shu Lin Wee

Staff Working Papers from Bank of Canada

Abstract: Job applications have risen over time, yet job-finding rates have remained unchanged. Meanwhile, job separations have declined. We argue that an increase in the number of applications raises the probability of finding a good match rather than the probability of finding a job. Using a search model with multiple applications and costly information, we show that when applications increase, firms invest in identifying good matches, thereby reducing separations. Concurrently, increased congestion and selectivity over which offer to accept temper increases in job-finding rates. Our framework contains testable implications for changes in offers, acceptances, reservation wages, applicants per vacancy, and tenure, factors that enable us to generate the trends in unemployment flows.

Keywords: Labour markets; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2021-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge, nep-lab and nep-mac
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Related works:
Working Paper: Job Applications and Labor Market Flows (2023)
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