Data and Replication Code for: Macro Recruiting Intensity from Micro Data

This is the replication package for Macro Recruiting Intensity from Micro data, published in AEJ Macro (2025).<br><br>IMPORTANT: The package contains a large amount of data that we have released from the BLS. Since it has been released, it is all completely public, and may be used freely by researchers. Please cite this paper when using these data. You are free to use our codes as a reference for the origination of the data in your own replication packages.<br><br>Abstract:<br>We merge QCEW and JOLTS microdata to study the recruiting intensity of firms in the cross-section and over time.We show that vast establishment-level heterogeneity in vacancy filling rates is entirely explained by differences in gross hiring rates.We provide theory that supports these empirical facts and, through the lens of this theory, combine firm-level decisions and data into an empirical measure of \emph{Aggregate Recruiting Intensity} (ARI).We show that procyclicality of ARI is primarily due to reductions of recruiting effort in slack labor markets.Jointly, these results inform a proxy ARI index that is easily computable from publicly available macroeconomic time series. Fluctuations in ARI account for around 40\% of the volatility of overall aggregate match efficiency from 2002 to 2019.