Research
Publications & Forthcoming papers
Hunting for talent: Firm-driven Labor Market search in the United States, with Sharique Hasan and Rem Koning
[Accepted at Strategic Management Journal]
Short summary: We analyze the phenomenon of firm-driven labor market search, where firms increasingly "hunt'" for talent rather than relying on workers to apply to vacancies. We develop a model that incorporates firm-driven search and derive equilibrium conditions under which firms use this channel. We test our model's predictions using two data sources. Data from a nationally representative survey of 10,000 workers shows that the percentage hired through recruiting has increased from 4.9% in 1991, to 14.3% in 2022. We complement this analysis with data on the near universe of online job postings from 2010 to 2020. We find that firms, especially those with high-skill demand, have increased by 50% the search for recruiters with the ability to scour the internet for passive candidates.
Media: Barron's | Forbes | The Protocol | HBS Article | Fuqua LinkedIn Session (30-min video) | ExecU Podcast
Market Segment, Organization Form, and Technology Fit, with Victor Bennett and Todd Hall
[Accepted at Strategy Science]
Short summary: Prior literature has proposed models of the displacement of incumbent firms by newer ones that adopt new technologies, however, we often observe industries where incumbents adopt new technologies less intensively than the entrants and not displaced. We propose one explanation built on the notion in strategy of the importance of fit between activity system components. We combine three existing models from strategy to show that our novel predictions are the result of questions of fit. We find patterns consistent with our predictions using rich employer-employee linked administrative data from Portugal.
Working Papers
Better Together? Top manager and Firm Performance
[Reject & Resubmit at Management Science]
Short summary: This paper analyzes the importance of the quality of the match between top manager and firm for organizational performance. I conceptualize the link between managers and firm performance as including both individual and match-specific quality components. I propose a method to separate individual from manager-firm match quality. By using separate portions of the managers' career to back out each component of quality, I am able to demonstrate that match-specific quality accounts for a significant portion of the manager's value.
The Illusion Cyclicality in Entry Wages, with Ana Figueiredo
[Under review]
Short summary: We document the fact that wage changes throughout the business cycle happen primarily for workers who switch occupations, rather than simply transitioning to a new firm, as previously asserted. We find that match-quality considerations drive occupational switches, and the higher the jump in match quality when one switches, the higher the resulting wage increase.
Network Hiring and Match Quality, with Sharique Hasan
Short summary: A large body of research shows that network hiring---the practice of hiring through referrals---yields candidates who perform better and stay longer with the firm. However, it is unclear what is the nature of the information that firms obtain through network hiring. In this paper, we show that network hiring provides information on match quality, and that this is particularly valuable for firms with knowledge-intensive occupations.
Work in progress
Hunting for talent and the Great Labor Shortage, with Sharique Hasan
Occupation sorting, Internal Labor Markets, and Firm Wage Premium, with Ana Figueiredo