Property valuation: the hedonic pricing model: the application of search-and-matching models

PurposeThe aim of this education briefing is to comment upon how basic hedonic pricing models for the valuation of property can be expanded and developed. In this case, the briefing illustrates the use of the new economic approach to the analysis of housing markets, namely the search-and-matching models.Design/methodology/approachThis education briefing discusses the connection of two important economic theories: the hedonic price theory and the search-and-matching theory.FindingsThis education briefing gives an example of a (non-linear) form of the hedonic price function.Practical implicationsIn cases of mass appraisals, hedonic pricing models can provide a broad indication of value across submarkets and this education briefing demonstrates a theoretical model that can be used to provide a theoretical groundwork for the use of a concave hedonic price function in empirical estimates.Originality/valueThis education briefing shows how basic hedonic pricing models can be enhanced by a search-and-matching approach to determine property values.

The Balance Condition in Search‐and‐Matching Models

Most of the literature that studies frictional search‐and‐matching models with heterogeneous agents and random search investigates steady state equilibria. Steady state equilibrium requires, in particular, that the flows of agents into and out of the population of unmatched agents balance. We investigate the structure of this balance condition, taking agents' matching behavior as given. Building on the “fundamental matching lemma” for quadratic search technologies in Shimer and Smith (2000), we establish existence, uniqueness, and comparative statics properties of the solution to the balance condition for any search technology satisfying minimal regularity conditions. Implications for the existence and structure of steady state equilibria in the Shimer–Smith model and extensions thereof are noted. These reinforce the point that much of the structure of search‐and‐matching models with quadratic search technologies carries over to more general search technologies.

THE OPPORTUNITY COST(S) OF EMPLOYMENT AND SEARCH INTENSITY

The flow utility of unemployment plays a crucial role in labor search and matching models. Recent evidence by Chodorow-Reich and Karabarbounis suggests that the flow utility is high on average, volatile, and strongly procyclical. Taken together, these facts imply that labor search and matching models perform worse than prevailing conventional wisdom. In contrast, we build a model where unemployed workers choose between home production and job search. Procyclical job search implies that the effective unemployment benefit is countercyclical. Our results suggest that omitting endogenous search will upwardly bias the measured correlation between effective unemployment benefits and productivity.