Looking into the Black Box: A Survey of the Matching Function

2001/06/01 by Barbara Petrongolo, Bárbara Petrongolo, Christopher A Pissarides +1 · 2,429 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Mathematics · #Aggregate (composite) #Black box #Computer science #Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing #Econometrics #Economic Policies and Impacts #Economic theories and models #Economics #Estimation #Function (biology) #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Macroeconomics #Matching (statistics) #Mathematics #Microeconomics #Microfoundations #Politics, Economics, and Education Policy #Production (economics) #Returns to scale #Scale (ratio) #Statistics #Survey data collection #Unemployment

paper · open access · doi:10.1257/jel.39.2.390

published in RePEc: Research Papers in Economics 39(2), 390-431 (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)

openalex publication_date 2001/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

This paper surveys the microfoundations, empirical evidence, and estimation issues underlying the aggregate matching function. There is no consensus yet on microfoundations but one is emerging on estimation. An aggregate, constant returns, Cobb-Douglas matching function with hires as a function of vacancies and unemployment has been successfully estimated for several countries. Recent work has utilized disaggregated data to go beyond aggregate estimates, with many refinements and suggestions for future research. The paper discusses spatial aggregation issues, and implications of on-the-job search and of the timing of stocks and flows for estimated matching functions.

Citations

• A Comparison of the Performance of Three Flexible Functional Forms
• Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment

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