Zoektheorie: De onzichtbare hand zichtbaar maken

Mijnheer de rector magni\u85cus, dames en heren. Zoekfricties. De eerste keer dat ik er mee in aanmerking kwam was in 1977. Ik was tien jaar oud en had net mijn eerste LP gekocht. Ik ben er niet trots op maar hij was van ABBA. Wat ik toen niet begreep was waarom die aantrekkelijke vrouwen getrouwd waren met die minder aantrekkelijke mannen. Nu, na jaren onderzoek weet ik inmiddels het antwoord. Zoekfricties. Anna en Frida kwamen maar een beperkte hoeveelheid mannen per jaar tegen en dus konden ze niet al te kieskeurig zijn anders zouden ze altijd single blijven. Vandaag zal ik het echter vooral hebben over zoekfricties op de arbeidsmarkt, die zoals ik duidelijk zal proberen te maken veel overeenkomsten met de huwelijksmarkt vertoont. Wat bijzonder is aan de arbeidsmarkt is dat er veel wordt ingegrepen door de overheid. Denk aan: minimumlonen, werkloosheidsuitkeringen, ontslagbescherming, anti-discriminatiebeleid, sancties voor werkelozen die niet hard genoeg zoeken en allerlei maatregelen die gericht zijn om de participatie te verhogen, zoals het subsidiëren van kin-deropvang. Er bestaan verschillende methoden om arbeidsmarktbeleid te evalueren. Voor kleinschalige projecten zoals trainingen voor een groep werkelozen, zijn de standaard micro econometrische evaluatie studies nuttig. Hierbij ontvangt idealiter een willekeurige groe

Sorting and the output loss due to search frictions

We analyze a general search model with on-the-job search and sorting of heterogeneous workers into heterogeneous jobs. This model yields a simple relationship between (i) the unemployment rate, (ii) the value of non-market time, and (iii) the max-mean wage differential. The latter measure of wage dispersion is more robust than measures based on the reservation wage, due to the long left tail of the wage distribution. We estimate this wage differential using data on match quality and allow for measurement error. The estimated wage dispersion and mismatch for the US is consistent with an unemployment rate of 4-6%. We find that without search frictions, output would be between 7.5% and 18.5% higher, depending on whether or not firms can ex ante commit to wage payments

The timing of pollution abatement investments and the business cycle: an international comparison

In this paper we develop a simple equilibrium business-cycle model for an economy with both clean-and dirty-producing plants. We derive that the optimal timing of cleaning the production process is during a slowdown of the economy. Due to external effects and market failures the timing of pollutionabatement investments is not expected to be optimal in the real world. We test the optimality of the timing of those investments with data for Germany,the Netherlands and the U.S.A. It appears that for more than 25 percent of the sectors pollution abatement investments show counter-cyclical behaviour,while in only one sector these investments are pro-cyclical

An Empirical Measure for Labor Market Density

In this paper we derive a structural measure for labor market density based on the Ellison and Glasear (1997) index for industry concentration''. This labor market density measure serves as a proxy for the number of workers that can reach a certain work area within a reasonal amount of traveling time. We apply this measure to a standard wage equation and find that it takes account of almost half of the cross region wage variance (not explained by other observables). Moreover, it explains substantiallly more than the traditional density measure: people per square mile

Search and the City

Can increasing returns to scale in search explain regional differentiation between cities and rural areas? To answer this question, we develop a model of an economy that consists of several regions. Within each region, jobs and workers are heterogeneous by respectively skill and job complexity type. Because of the search frictions, firms and workers in each region must trade-off a better expected match quality against a longer period of non-production. Labor mobility between regions induces the equalization of reservation wages for each skin type and interregional trade of end products yields regional specialization in production. The model predicts that high density areas make use of their scale advantage by producing end products with a high dispersion of skin requirements. Empirical evidence for the United States corroborates the implications of the model