VACANCY CHAINS AND EQUILIBRATION IN SENIOR-LEVEL LABOR-MARKETS

In contrast to entry-level professional labor markets, in which cohort s of candidates and positions become available at the same time (e.g., when candidates graduate from school), senior level positions typical ly become available when an incumbent retires, or a new position is cr eated, and when a senior position is filled a new vacancy is often cre ated elsewhere. We model senior level labor markets as two-sided match ing markets in which matchings are destabilized by retirements and new entries, and can return to stability by a decentralized process of of fers and acceptances. This generalizes the standard analysis in a way which has points of contact with the sociological literature on vacanc y chains. (C) 1997 Academic Press.