Using the German IAB Job Vacancy Survey, we look into the black box of recruiting intensity and hiring practices from the employers’ perspective. Our paper evaluates three important channels for hiring —namely vacancy posting, the selectivity of hiring (labor selection), and the number of search channels— through the lens of an undirected search model. Vacancy posting and labor selection show a U-shape over the employment growth distribution. The number of search channels is also upward sloping for growing establishments, but relatively flat for shrinking establishments. We argue that growing establishments react to positive establishment-specific productivity shocks by using all three channels more actively. Furthermore, we connect the fact that shrinking establishments post more vacancies and are less selective than those with a constant workforce to churn triggered by employment-to-employment transitions. In line with our theoretical framework, all three hiring margins are procyclical over the business cycle.

使用德国IAB职位空缺调查，我们从雇主的角度调查了招聘强度和招聘实践的黑匣子。我们的论文通过无向搜索模型的角度评估了三个重要的招聘渠道，即空缺职位发布，招聘的选择性（劳动力选择）和搜索渠道的数量。职位空缺和劳动力选择在就业增长分布上呈U形。对于成长中的机构，搜索渠道的数量也呈上升趋势，但对于萎缩的机构而言，搜索渠道的数量却相对平坦。我们认为，成长中的企业通过更积极地使用所有三个渠道来应对企业特定的积极生产力冲击。此外，我们将这样一个事实联系在一起，即萎缩的企业职位空缺更多，而且与因就业向就业的过渡而导致劳动力不断流失的企业相比，职位空缺较少。按照我们的理论框架，这三个招聘利润率在整个业务周期中都是周期性的。