The Job Search Intensity Supply Curve: How Labor Market Conditions Affect Job Search Effort

The Job Search Intensity Supply Curve: How Labor Market Conditions Affect Job Search Effort

During the Great Recession of 2007, unemployment reached nearly 10 percent and the ratio of unemployment to open positions (as measured by the Help Wanted OnLine Index) more than tripled. The weak labor market prompted an unprecedented extension in the length of time in which a claimant can collect unemployment insurance (UI) to 99 weeks, at an expense to date of $226.4 billion. While many clai...

Labor market policies and job search

2 A sizable share of unemployment can be attributed to frictions in the labor market. The simultaneous existence of vacancies and job seekers proves that job search requires effort and time. To improve the efficiency of this process, many countries offer active labor market policies. Evaluating how these programs affect job prospects of job seekers is crucial for effective policy making and for...

Job Market Signaling and Job Search

The high cost of searching for employers borne by prospective employees increases friction in the labor market and inhibits formation of e¢ cient employer-employee relationships. It is conventionally agreed that mechanisms that reduce the search costs (e.g., internet portals for job search) lower unemployment and improve overall welfare. We demonstrate that a reduction of the search costs may h...

Nash Bargaining, On-the-job Search and Labor Market Equilibrium

How wage announcements affect job search behaviour - a field experiment

We study how job seekers respond to wage announcements, and test the main implications of directed search: high wages should attract more applicants, but some applicants apply only to low wages even if higher wage offers are present. Both parts of the theory find support among randomised job offers, suggesting an allocative role for wage competition in search markets. We calibrate a directed se...