The Weak Job Recovery in a Macro Model of Search and Recruiting Intensity

Author(s): Sylvain Leduc and Zheng Liu

We show that cyclical fluctuations in search intensity and recruiting intensity are quantitatively important for explaining the weak job recovery from the Great Recession. We demonstrate this result using an estimated labor search model that features endogenous search and recruiting intensity. Since the textbook model with free entry implies constant recruiting intensity, we introduce a cost of vacancy creation, so that firms respond to aggregate shocks by adjusting both vacancies and recruiting intensity. Fluctuations in search and recruiting intensity driven by shocks to productivity and the discount factor help bridge the gap between the actual and model-predicted job filling rate.

Download PDF (pdf, 471.31 kb)

Replication files (zip, 66.94 kb)

Supplemental appendix (pdf, 366.67 kb)

Article Citation

Leduc, Sylvain, and Zheng Liu. 2019. "The Weak Job Recovery in a Macro Model of Search and Recruiting Intensity," Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper 2016-09. Available at https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2016-09