Seminar Series “Macroeconomics and Labor Markets” on 27 May 2025, LG 4.154
We are pleased to invite you to the seminar series on “Macroeconomics and Labor Markets“ organized by the Chair of Macroeconomics at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Prof. Merkl, the Chair of Global Governance and International Trade at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Prof. Moser, and the Competence Field Macroeconomics of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). Researchers of both institutions, as well as national and international guests, present their current work at the intersection of labor- and macroeconomics.
The next seminar will be held on Tuesday, May 27, 12 noon to 1.30 PM (German time).
It will take place in person at WISO, room LG 4.154 (Lange Gasse 20, Nürnberg).
Online participation will be possible via Zoom.
Benjamín Villena Roldán (Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile) will talk about “Labor Markets, Inequality, and Hiring Selection” (joint work with Alessandra Pizzo).
Abstract:
Employers hire more selectively between heterogeneous productivity workers when applicants’ queues are longer. Consistently, CPS data reveal a positive and concave relation between unemployment rates and wage inequality. We rationalize intuition and evidence altogether using a nonsequential search model in which selective hiring stretches out the right tail of the wage distribution and compresses the left one. Using GMM-estimated parameters, we show that mean worker productivity distribution shifts are consistent with the evidence. Welfare analysis suggests that regressive taxation may enhance efficiency because expected good matches stimulate vacancies, creating a positive externality for other job seekers.