A queuing model of the macro‐micro connection, with special attention to stratification

This paper's queuing model matches people (or other actors) to a given set of social positions. This stochastic process model operates by ranking people in a queue, ranking positions in another queue, and matching the two queues. The top‐ranked person gets the top‐ranked position, the second‐ranked person gets the second‐ranked position, and so on. Personal resources (e.g., race or education) influence queue position, but do not completely determine it. However, resources have no necessary effect on the overall distribution of positions, since the two queues are separate. The value of personal resources varies with the resources of others and the positions available. The paper notes some limitation of regressions as models of distribution within fixed structures, and closes with some suggestions for testing queuing and other models of the macro‐micro connection.

Key words:

• Stochastic models
• queuing
• labor markets
• regression
• micro‐macro
• ecological fallacy

Notes

I thank Larry Griffin, David Heise, David James, Scott Long, Karl Schuessler, Michael Wallace, Pamela Barnhouse Walters, the faculty at Indiana University generally, and an anonymous referee for their help. The opinions expressed here, however, should not be attributed to them.