Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleArticles
Open Access

Labor Market Frictions and Moving Costs of the Employed and Unemployed

Tyler Ransom
Published online before print March 09, 2021, 0219-10013R2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0219-10013R2
Tyler Ransom
Tyler Ransom is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Oklahoma and a research affiliate at IZA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Search frictions and switching costs may grant monopsony power to incumbent employers by reducing workers’ outside options. This paper examines the role of labor market frictions and moving costs in explaining worker flows across US labor markets. Using data on non-college-educated workers from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), I estimate a dynamic model of job search and location choice. I find that moving costs are substantial and that labor market frictions primarily inhibit the employed. Reducing these frictions would result in a higher wage elasticity of labor supply to the firm and could reduce employer monopsony power.

JEL Classification:
  • C35
  • E32
  • J22
  • J61
  • J64
  • R23
  • Migration
  • Job search
  • Dynamic discrete choice

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

Next
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Labor Market Frictions and Moving Costs of the Employed and Unemployed
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
Labor Market Frictions and Moving Costs of the Employed and Unemployed
Tyler Ransom
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2021, 0219-10013R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0219-10013R2

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Labor Market Frictions and Moving Costs of the Employed and Unemployed
Tyler Ransom
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2021, 0219-10013R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.monopsony.0219-10013R2
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Monopsony in the Labor Market: New Empirical Results and New Public Policies
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Licensure Tests and Teacher Supply
  • Closing the Gap Between Vocational and General Education?
  • Crossing Borders
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • C35
  • E32
  • J22
  • J61
  • J64
  • R23
  • Migration
  • Job search
  • Dynamic discrete choice
UW Press logo

© 2025 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire