Life-cycle search, match quality and Japan's labor market

► In Japan, the age-profiles of unemployment and job separation rates are U-shaped. ► In contrast, the job finding rate is declining in age. ► We build a life-cycle labor search and matching model with random match quality. ► The calibrated model captures the key life-cycle features of Japan's labor market. ► We then conduct three experiments relevant to Japan, such as a population decline.