Competition among applicants for job openings

Job search theory and human capital theory have traditionally relied heavily upon the role of wages in their explanations of regional labour market behaviour and interregional migration. Wages are not the only source and perhaps not even the most important source of uncertainty in individual job search and migration decisions. The view taken here is that the competitive aspects of the search process are also of substantial importance in explaining how job seekers are matched with job vacancies. It is demonstrated how aspects of job competition may be embedded within migration and job search models. Moreover, it reviews and compares alternative models of job matching. -from Editors