Successful employer search? An empirical analysis of vacancy duration using micro data

This paper provides the first estimates of the determinants of the duration of employer search in the UK. We model duration until a vacancy is either successfully filled or withdrawn from the market. The econometric techniques deal with multiple vacancies and unobserved heterogeneity (dependent risks), using flexible and parametric baseline hazards. The hazards to filling and withdrawing exhibit negative and positive duration dependence respectively, implying that the conditional probability of successful employer search decreases with duration. We also find that nonmanual vacancies are less likely to fill, consistent with there being skill shortages in the sample period. © 2008 The London School of Economics and Political Science.