We analyze the trade-off between monopoly and competition in matching markets. Intermediaries use prices to sort agents on one side of the market, while, on the other side, they rely solely on an imperfect screening technology. The socially efficient outcome is characterized by an optimal quality provision and an efficient market coverage: matched agents are matched assortatively and all agents...

Accounting for Labor Demand Effects in Structural Labor Supply Models When assessing the effects of policy reforms on the labor market, most studies only focus on labor supply. The interaction of supply and demand side is not explicitly modeled, which might lead to biased estimates of potential labor market outcomes. This paper proposes a straightforward method to remedy this shortcoming. We us...

Regional Treatment Intensity as an Instrument for the Evaluation of Labour Market Policies The effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on individual employment chances and earnings are evaluated by nonparametric instrumental variables based on Swiss administrative data with detailed regional information. Using an exogenous variation in the participation probabilities across fairly auton...

This paper estimates the social costs of job loss due to environmental regulation. Per job lost, potential social costs of job loss are high, plausibly over $100,000 in present value costs (2012 dollars) per permanently lost job. However, these social costs will typically be far less than the earnings associated with lost jobs, because labor markets and workers adjust, increased leisure has som...

We evaluate the treatment e¤ect of disability grant program using matching methods. A variety of propensity score matching methods applied, show that, on average, the disability grant program has large and signi…cant e¤ects on lowering labour force participation rates of grant recipients. In particular the General Household Survey data we use show that labour force participation rates of Disabi...

Why Are Similar Workers Paid Differently? The Role of Social Networks We provide a matching model where identical workers are embedded in ex-ante identical social networks. Job arrival rate is endogenous and wages are bargained. We study the evolution of networks over time and characterize the equilibrium distribution of unemployment rates across networks. We emphasize that wage dispersion aris...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of the accessibility to employment offices on local unemployment rates according to the distribution of three different types of municipalities: large urban, small urban and non-urban. We built a new accessibility measure taking into account the number of employment offices together with the distance and size of their catchment area. We propose an ...

The Gradual Transformation of Continental European Labor Markets: France and Germany Compared Germany and France are both Continental European welfare states with severe labor market problems such as low employment and high and persistent unemployment which can be explained by labor market institutions that inhibit labor market adaptability. This paper analyzes recent reforms in core areas such...

The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification We analyse the effects of government-sponsored training for the unemployed conducted during East German transition. For the microeconometric analysis, we use a new, large and informative administrative database that allows us to use matching methods to reduce potential selection b...

Persistently high youth unemployment is one of the most pressing problems in South Africa. The South African government has proposed an employer wage subsidy to address the issue. We prospectively analyze such a policy. Recognizing that a credible estimate of the policy’s impact requires a model of the labor market that itself generates high unemployment in equilibrium, we estimate a structural...