Abstract
Uncertainty still remains as to the cause of the UK’s dramatic productivity puzzle that began during the Great Financial Crisis. Occupational mismatch has been implicated as driving up to two thirds of it. However, obtaining the high quality time series data for vacancies by job occupation that are required to measure occupational mismatch is a significant challenge. We confront this issue by using a weighted dataset of 15 million job adverts posted online that cover most of the post-crisis period and that enable us to test whether occupational mismatch still stands up as an explanation for the UK productivity puzzle. We find little evidence that it does, mainly because, relative to the data used in similar analysis by Patterson et al. (2016), our vacancy data imply greater heterogeneity in occupational matching frictions, a key determinant of the optimal distribution of labour across job types.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.