Working Paper: NBER ID: w21764
Authors: Robert E. Hall; Andreas I. Mueller
Abstract: We use a rich new body of data on the experiences of unemployed jobseekers to determine the sources of wage dispersion and to create a search model consistent with the acceptance decisions the jobseekers made. Heterogeneity in non-wage job values or amenities among jobseekers and jobs is a central feature of our model. From the data and the model, we identify the distributions of four key variables: offered wages, offered non-wage job values, the value of the jobseeker's non-work alternative, and the jobseeker's personal productivity. We find that, conditional on personal productivity, the standard deviation of offered log-wages is moderate, at 0.24, whereas the dispersion of the non-wage component of offered job values is substantially larger, at 0.34. The resulting dispersion of offered job values is 0.38. We also find high dispersion of personal productivity, at 0.43.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: J31; J32; J64
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| personal productivity (O49) | offered wages (J31) |
| personal productivity (O49) | dispersion of offered wages (J31) |
| nonwage job values (J39) | job acceptance decisions (M51) |
| offered wages (J31) | job acceptance decisions (M51) |
| nonwage job values (J39) | offered wages (J31) |
| overall job values (A13) | wage dispersion (J31) |
| high dispersion of personal productivity (D29) | wage variation (J31) |
| nonwage factors (J32) | job acceptance decisions (M51) |