Search and Matching Model Performance in Selected Developing Countries with a focus on Iran

This paper shows the inability of standard search and matching model to replicate labor market volatility in a selected developing country and especially in Iran's economy. To do this, we present empirical evidence on the cyclical behavior of the labor market variables in the selected developing countries. We then build, parameterize, and simulate the standard search and matching model and compare the simulated statistics to the data. The results indicate how those models fail in replicating the stylized facts concerning the unemployment and job vacancy volatilities following a standard productive shock. Likewise, the model is unable to generate as much volatility on the market tightness as in the data. Also, the search and matching model cannot explain the observed volatilities in unemployment and job vacancy in Iran's labor market in response to the labor productivity shock, and the calibrated model is able to explain less than 0.25 percent of the observed volatilities in the market tightness. This suggests a need to explore alternative sources of shocks and frictions in labor market of Iran. In general, one could contemplate augmenting the search and matching model with features such as wage flexibility, price stickiness, endogenous job separation under different types of shocks along with some developing countries-specific features.  All in all, this paper contributes essentially to the literature on empirical investigation of the business cycle properties of labor market variables within a search and matching prototype for selected developing economies. The inability of search and matching model to predict fluctuations in the labor market variables in Iran's economy and developing countries have not been quantitatively investigated so far, and this paper is the first quantitative work in this field.